TEL AVIV – Israel has requested intervention from the UN Security Council, saying that the Hamas terror group is working with Hezbollah to establish missile factories and training camps in southern Lebanon.
The report was first released by Lebanese newspaper Al Joumhouria and later confirmed by Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
“The issue is on Israel’s agenda at the UN and is regularly raised in meetings, official letters and speeches, both to the UN Secretary-General and UN Security Council,” the Foreign Ministry said in response to the report.
According to the Lebanese report, Israel sent a letter in recent weeks to the UN Security Council and General Assembly containing intelligence about efforts by the two terror group – both of which are backed by Iran – in setting up missile factories in Lebanon with the purpose of arming Hamas, as well as training facilities run by senior Hezbollah members for “thousands of Palestinian fighters.”
Israel requested the UN intervene to stop the cooperation between Hamas and Hezbollah, which it said was a “blatant violation” of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which stipulated the disarmament of Hezbollah and other armed groups in southern Lebanon at the end of the 2006 Second Lebanon War.
“We are witnessing the implications of the Hamas terror regime in Gaza and now Hamas is strengthening its ties with Hezbollah. With the approval and support of Iran, Hamas is working to establish its capabilities on Lebanese territory as well,” said Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon.
“The cooperation between Hezbollah and Hamas crosses borders,” he said.
“Israel does not intend to sit idly when facing new and old threats and will do whatever is necessary to protect its citizens,” he added.
Earlier this year, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman warned that Hamas was making efforts to strengthen its presence in South Lebanon in order launch attacks against Israel from there.
“It must be understood that Hamas, which finds it hard to carry out attacks from the Gaza Strip, is currently trying to launch attacks from the West Bank – and is also trying in new arenas, first of all in southern Lebanon, to threaten the State of Israel,” he said, adding that Israel has been following developments in the growing relationship between Hamas and Hezbollah.
“We will not allow on one hand, Hamas talks about the humanitarian crisis [in Gaza] and on the other hand, that it will try to carry out terror attacks from the West Bank or to build terror infrastructures in southern Lebanon,” he said.
On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Iranian-backed militias including Hezbollah have withdrawn their forces from areas in southern Syria only to later return posing in Syrian uniform and carrying the Assad regime flag. The disguises are part of a ploy to avoid Israeli airstrikes.
An Israeli official told the Journal: “You can be sure that Israel is very much aware of basically everything happening in our backyard.”
Sunday’s report in Al Joumhouria also cited Israel as claiming that Hamas political Deputy Chairman Saleh al-Arouri is in regular contact with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah as well as with Saed Izai, the head of the Palestinian branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.
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