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IDF Fears Hezbollah ‘Military Buildup’ In Lebanon
By DAVID BEDEIN, Middle East Correspondent
A large explosion took place in the house of a senior Hezbollah member which was being used as an arms cache in Tayr Filsay, a village about one mile east of the coastal city of Tyre and south of the Litani River on Monday. In the aftermath of the explosion, Hezbollah operatives sealed off the area and used trucks to remove evidence from the scene to a nearby village.
This incident came in the wake of a similar explosion, which took place at a Hezbollah arms cache three months ago, reflecting what the Israeli security officials referred to as an “ongoing military buildup in southern Lebanon.”
In the words of the Israel Defense Department spokesman, “The presence of such weapon caches demonstrates that Hezbollah is illegally storing weapons south of the Litani River in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.”
The IDF spokesman went on to say that “these incidents leave no doubt regarding Hezbollah’s practice of placing its military weapons and facilities within civilian villages and houses. Such use of Lebanese civilians as human shields endangers their safety.”
Iran and Syria continue to provide Hezbollah with large quantities of weapons and explosives, accompanied by substantial financial backing and training. The Israeli army estimates that the Hezbollah has assembled over 20,000 rockets with a range of 150 miles, along with hundreds of anti-tank launchers and missiles in addition to new anti-aircraft missiles, and they are currently located in southern Lebanon.
A senior Israeli army source said that weapons are now being smuggled from Syria into Lebanon on a regular, weekly basis. “Iran pays, Syria smuggles and Hezbollah receives,” he explained.
According to the officer, Hezbollah has tens of thousands of rockets, many of which are kept in about 300 storage facilities spread throughout the 160 or so Shi’ite villages in southern Lebanon.
After Snubbing Israel, Turkey Held Defense Drills With Syria
Syria held military exercises with Turkey, shortly after Turkey canceled maneuvers with Israel.
Turkey’s decision, which was commended by Syria, revived fears of cooler relations between Israel and NATO member Turkey.
“We held our first joint land military exercise (with Turkey) last spring. And today we have agreed to do a more comprehensive, a bigger one,” said Syrian Defense Minister Ali Habib, speaking at a news conference.
Turkey, a secular Muslim country, had been a key ally of Israel, but ties have been strained over Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s harsh criticism of Israel’s three-week offensive in the Hamas-ruled Gaza in December and January.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem commended Ankara’s canceling of the military cooperation with Israel, in comments made during a high-level meeting of Turkish and Syrian ministers.
“We extremely welcome that decision. This decision is based on Turkey’s approach towards Israel and reflects the way Turkey regards the Israeli attack in Gaza,” Moualem told reporters in the Syrian city of Aleppo, where 10 Turkish ministers met 15 Syrian ministers to discuss energy and electricity projects.
Israel, which, until recently, enjoyed close military cooperation with Turkey as well as bilateral trade worth nearly $3 billion, had urged Turkey to reconsider cooling ties with Hamas and with Iran. However, Prime Minister Erdogan is due to visit Iran this month.
Syrian-Turkish
Strategic Cooperation
SANA, the Syrian news agency, has issued a statement about the first ministerial meeting of the Syrian-Turkish High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council, which was concluded on Tuesday evening in the Turkish city of Gaziantep.
This meeting followed the formation the “Syrian-Turkish High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council” on Sept. 16.
SANA quoted Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who affirmed that the peoples of the two countries and their cities are embracing “a new beginning that will create a better future for our grandchildren.”
At that meeting, Syrian Assistant Vice President Lieutenant General Hassan Tourkmani said, “We can now look with confidence to the future which will show the results of our work for developing this partnership, which will serve the interests of the two brotherly peoples.”
A joint statement was issued at the end of the meeting, stating the following: “The government of the Syrian Arab Republic and the government of the Turkish Republic agreed to form a long-term strategic partnership to bolster and expand their cooperation in a wide spectrum of issues of mutual benefit and interest and strengthen the cultural bonds and solidarity among their peoples, which aims to build upon their strong bonds due to their mutual historical, cultural, fraternal and good-neighborly relation.”
U.S. Tracked Iranian
Arms To Syria
The United States has tracked Iranian weapons shipments to Syria.
The German daily Der Spiegel has confirmed that two U.S. Navy ships intercepted a German-owned cargo ship that left Iran for Syria.
The cargo vessel was stopped by the two U.S. Navy ships in the Gulf of Suez near Egypt and found to have contained 7.62 mm ammunition rounds, suitable for the Soviet-origin AK-47 assault rifle.
Der Spiegel reported that the German freighter was registered to a Hamburg-based shipping company known as Leonhardt & Blumberg.
The freighter, Hansa India, was found to have been under charter to Iran’s state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, sanctioned by both Britain and the United States.
“Investigators suspect that the weapons were part of an Iranian shipment bound for either the Syrian Army or for Hezbollah, the militant Islamist group,” Der Spiegel reported on Oct. 12. “Following an intervention by the German government, the United States allowed the ship to continue on to its destination in Malta, where the containers were secured.”
Iran has used a series of routes to transport weapons to Hezbollah, including air routes through Turkey as well as the use of Venezuela as a way station.
David Bedein can be reached at bedein@thebulletin.us
This incident came in the wake of a similar explosion, which took place at a Hezbollah arms cache three months ago, reflecting what the Israeli security officials referred to as an “ongoing military buildup in southern Lebanon.”
In the words of the Israel Defense Department spokesman, “The presence of such weapon caches demonstrates that Hezbollah is illegally storing weapons south of the Litani River in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.”
The IDF spokesman went on to say that “these incidents leave no doubt regarding Hezbollah’s practice of placing its military weapons and facilities within civilian villages and houses. Such use of Lebanese civilians as human shields endangers their safety.”
Iran and Syria continue to provide Hezbollah with large quantities of weapons and explosives, accompanied by substantial financial backing and training. The Israeli army estimates that the Hezbollah has assembled over 20,000 rockets with a range of 150 miles, along with hundreds of anti-tank launchers and missiles in addition to new anti-aircraft missiles, and they are currently located in southern Lebanon.
A senior Israeli army source said that weapons are now being smuggled from Syria into Lebanon on a regular, weekly basis. “Iran pays, Syria smuggles and Hezbollah receives,” he explained.
According to the officer, Hezbollah has tens of thousands of rockets, many of which are kept in about 300 storage facilities spread throughout the 160 or so Shi’ite villages in southern Lebanon.
After Snubbing Israel, Turkey Held Defense Drills With Syria
Syria held military exercises with Turkey, shortly after Turkey canceled maneuvers with Israel.
Turkey’s decision, which was commended by Syria, revived fears of cooler relations between Israel and NATO member Turkey.
“We held our first joint land military exercise (with Turkey) last spring. And today we have agreed to do a more comprehensive, a bigger one,” said Syrian Defense Minister Ali Habib, speaking at a news conference.
Turkey, a secular Muslim country, had been a key ally of Israel, but ties have been strained over Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s harsh criticism of Israel’s three-week offensive in the Hamas-ruled Gaza in December and January.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem commended Ankara’s canceling of the military cooperation with Israel, in comments made during a high-level meeting of Turkish and Syrian ministers.
“We extremely welcome that decision. This decision is based on Turkey’s approach towards Israel and reflects the way Turkey regards the Israeli attack in Gaza,” Moualem told reporters in the Syrian city of Aleppo, where 10 Turkish ministers met 15 Syrian ministers to discuss energy and electricity projects.
Israel, which, until recently, enjoyed close military cooperation with Turkey as well as bilateral trade worth nearly $3 billion, had urged Turkey to reconsider cooling ties with Hamas and with Iran. However, Prime Minister Erdogan is due to visit Iran this month.
Syrian-Turkish
Strategic Cooperation
SANA, the Syrian news agency, has issued a statement about the first ministerial meeting of the Syrian-Turkish High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council, which was concluded on Tuesday evening in the Turkish city of Gaziantep.
This meeting followed the formation the “Syrian-Turkish High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council” on Sept. 16.
SANA quoted Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who affirmed that the peoples of the two countries and their cities are embracing “a new beginning that will create a better future for our grandchildren.”
At that meeting, Syrian Assistant Vice President Lieutenant General Hassan Tourkmani said, “We can now look with confidence to the future which will show the results of our work for developing this partnership, which will serve the interests of the two brotherly peoples.”
A joint statement was issued at the end of the meeting, stating the following: “The government of the Syrian Arab Republic and the government of the Turkish Republic agreed to form a long-term strategic partnership to bolster and expand their cooperation in a wide spectrum of issues of mutual benefit and interest and strengthen the cultural bonds and solidarity among their peoples, which aims to build upon their strong bonds due to their mutual historical, cultural, fraternal and good-neighborly relation.”
U.S. Tracked Iranian
Arms To Syria
The United States has tracked Iranian weapons shipments to Syria.
The German daily Der Spiegel has confirmed that two U.S. Navy ships intercepted a German-owned cargo ship that left Iran for Syria.
The cargo vessel was stopped by the two U.S. Navy ships in the Gulf of Suez near Egypt and found to have contained 7.62 mm ammunition rounds, suitable for the Soviet-origin AK-47 assault rifle.
Der Spiegel reported that the German freighter was registered to a Hamburg-based shipping company known as Leonhardt & Blumberg.
The freighter, Hansa India, was found to have been under charter to Iran’s state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, sanctioned by both Britain and the United States.
“Investigators suspect that the weapons were part of an Iranian shipment bound for either the Syrian Army or for Hezbollah, the militant Islamist group,” Der Spiegel reported on Oct. 12. “Following an intervention by the German government, the United States allowed the ship to continue on to its destination in Malta, where the containers were secured.”
Iran has used a series of routes to transport weapons to Hezbollah, including air routes through Turkey as well as the use of Venezuela as a way station.
David Bedein can be reached at bedein@thebulletin.us
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