Hizbullah takes over South Lebanon.

From the IDF web site. This is quite disturbing.

The following declassified intelligence maps as well as the 3D animated clip illustrate how Hezbollah, in the four years since the Second Lebanon War, has turned over 100 villages in South Lebanon into military bases. These maps and the 3D clip illustrate how Hezbollah stores their weapons near schools, hospitals, and residential buildings in the village of al-Khiam. They follow similar tactics in villages across southern Lebanon, essentially using the residents as human shields, in gross violation of UN Resolution 1701. al-Khiam was used as a rocket launching site during the Second Lebanon war.

During the Second Lebanon war, Hezbollah stored their weapons in open areas for the most part, which enabled the IDF to locate and destroy their stores. In the four years since then, Hezbollah has pursued a tactic of moving their weapons into civilian villages, essentially institutionalizing the tactic of using human shields on a large scale.

(For the Scribd slide show please visit the link at the top)



In an incident on 12 October 2009, there was an explosion at a Hezbollah weapons storehouse in the village of Tayr Filsay. Aerial footage, taken shortly after the explosion, shows Hezbollah operatives closing down the area around the warehouse, driving in two trucks and removing weaponry from the site. They then took the weapons to a known weapons storage facility in the center of the village of Dir a-Nahar about four kilometers away. Only after Hezbollah removed the weaponry did they allow UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army to enter the site of the explosion.

STRATFOR:

From Stratfor:

July 7, 2010
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Northern Command declassified visual evidence of Hezbollah’s buildup in nearly 200 southern Lebanese villages, The Jerusalem Post reported July 7. An IDF delegation was sent to show the evidence to the United Nations and the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon. The IDF estimates there are around 20,000 Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon. A senior IDF source said there has been no indication that Syria, Lebanon or Hezbollah plan to attack Israel, Voice of Israel reported. The unnamed official added that he had no information suggesting that Syria had acquired an advanced radar system.

Vigilantism in Lebanon

Below is a video which is unspeakably harsh. It is pornographic in it’s horror, to borrow a phrase from Christopher Hitchens. Below that, is a commentary from Tundra Tabloids, and then below that, an article on it as well. I don’t really know what to add to this except do-not-watch-the-video and certainly not if there are children around.

Am I trying to characterize Muslims with this video? Well, perhaps in a way. Everyone was yelling ‘Allahu Ackbar’ as they lynched this guy according to a Russian site, and it tends to make me think that once a nation goes Muslim, it’s not so much a kind of Orwellian tome, but William Golding. Islam’s logical conclusion: Lord of the Flies.

Eeyore for Vlad:

This is the hallmark of Islam, societal approval of vigilantism in the streets to instill a sense of intimidation and fear in the people. Yes this guy was a murderous thug and deserved to be prosecuted under the law, and face the punishment handed out to the perpertrator of such a heinous crime. That said, the man shouldn’t have been lynched in the street by a mob, especially when there were law enforcement officers escorting the man. KGS

Angry mob of Lebanese villagers lynch murder suspect in town centre in gruesome vigilante attack

A mob of angry Lebanese villagers stabbed to death an Egyptian man and then lynched his naked body in the centre of town over allegations he killed four members of a local family.
Mohammed Msallem, a 38-year-old Egyptian who worked as a butcher in Ketermaya, had been arrested a day earlier on suspicion of shooting to death an elderly couple and their two young granddaughters, aged seven and nine.
He was leading police investigators through a re-enactment of the killings when dozens of residents attacked him with sticks and knives, security officials said.
Police rushed Msallem to the intensive care unit of a nearby hospital, but residents broke in, dragged him out and pounded him with sticks.

Asecurity official said police at the scene could not stop the attackers, who blocked streets in the village to prevent police reinforcements from reaching the scene.
After killing Msallem, the attackers stripped his bloody body down to the victim’s underwear and drove it through town on a car hood, with several local men standing on the hood cheering.
They then hanged the body from a pole in the centre of town as hundreds of residents cried ‘Allahu Akbar,’ or God is great. Some villagers even took photos of the dead man with their mobile phones.

A TT EXCLUSIVE: TROUBLE BREWING IN LEBANON AS CHRISTIAN DIASPORA ADVISED NOT TO RETURN FOR THE SUMMER

This is as serious as it gets. A Tundra Tabloids’ correspondent files the following report from Lebanon under the pseudonym, “Patron of Beirut”, concerning the take over (read= Islamization) of his country by the Iranian backed, Hizbollah, and the Saudi backed Sunni. PB also reports that there is serious talk of an upcoming war between Hizbollah and Israel, as well as a civil war between Hizbollah and united Christian factions. KGS

Nasrallah: Complete Islamization or bust

The Patron of Beirut:

The situation in Lebanon so far doesn’t look so good. There is tension in the air due to the municipality elections taking place next Sunday. There is a threat for the Christians in the region, if a war breaks out out between Hizbollah and Israel, the Shiia, the Hizbollah will take over the Christian areas in Beirut and in the South.

I have received messages from two sources with close contacts with the Christian parties, the Christian military forces there, that they are preparing for a war between them, (if Hizbollah starts a war with Israel) if Hizbollah starts to act against the Christian forces in the area, if they try to take over the mountain areas overlooking Beirut. They’re saying that Hizbollah will start the war by doing some kind of military operation in the south.

So Hizbollah will start some initiative on the border with Israel, and at the same time it will take a form of a civil war between the Muslims and the Christians, between the Shiia and the Marionites. According to my well placed sources, regarding certain Christian goups aligned with Hizbollah, (former general Michel Aoun’s ‘Free Patriotic Movement’ ), there won’t be any infighting between the different Christian groups, regardless of the past, even though that they have been aligned politically for some time now, between the head of army and Nasrallah.

So there won’t be any bi-lateral Christian-Muslim front against other Christians, it just won’t happen. Only the Lebanese forces (of the Christian factions) are well prepared with arms, they are well prepared for the upcoming war (with Hizbollah). They want to take over certain areas, on the high hills overlooking Beirut if the actions starts, because they want to use these areas against the F-16’s (Israeli warplanes), they are very tall mountains about 1.6 kilometers above the sea.

There is evidence that the Hizbollah will want to be in charge of the Christian areas (mountain range overlooking Beirut) if such a war happens between Hizbollah and Israel on the border. I know of Christians living in the diaspora who have been warned by politicians through personal contacts that it’s not wise to come to the south of Lebanon for the summer. I even believe that the embassies are starting to warn Lebanese citizens abroad not to come to Lebanon this summer, not officially, but quietly between private exchanges not to make the trip at this time.

The other big issue has been the buying of Christian land by Hizbollah which will devolve into taking of land once Hizbollah start something on the border with Israel, this is what will happen, what is expected to happen once things start. The Iranian government is controlling the PR front that that it doesn’t control Hizbollah but under the table they’re going to push them to start the move.

The reason why the big push is coming is related to Obama’s politics, possibly they feel that there is a tentative agreement between Washington and J’lem that Israel is not to attack Iran, but send a message to Tehran by attacking Lebanon and Syria, to be a warning of sorts to Iran. Just last night there is word that Hizbollah is moving close to the border with Israel, such a move is bound to cause a heightened sense of tension along the border and in the region.

Islamization

The Christians of Lebanon are tempted, in particular in the South and in Beirut to sell their lands to Muslims, who continue threaten their existence in a country that used to be predominently Christian for centuries. Many express that they suffer serious difficulties and that the only solution is immigration, this has caused many families to abandon their properties and lands and leave their country.

The “sale of Christian territory” however is a phenomenon growing day by day, for years, which now reduces the effective Christian presence in the region.

In quite the opposite, both Shiaa and Sunnii groups have started to purchase lands belonging to Christians by creating commercial centres and institutions for this purpose. This process would start by searching for Christians who need money due the lack of jobs among the Christian communities. Sometimes there are no other options except that the land owner sells, even though prices are at a steal. The big question today is new demographic changes in Lebanon. Many contacts tell me that the source of the money is Iranian, in a long term strategy to Islamize the land. Foreign funds, many agree, is designed to link some areas in the South and the East Bekaa vally areas to ensure the dominating Shiia population as the political actor.

‘Yes I sent bombs, but no I’m not guilty’

NATIONALPOST… A man accused of almost a dozen attempted murders denied the charges today, but admitted to sending tainted water and explosive devices to a variety of people in Toronto and Guelph between 2004 and 2007.
Adel Arnaout, 39, told a Superior Court judge he did this to “scare” several of the recipients and to confuse police.
“I was frustrated with them,” the accused said of police, noting his primary objective was “to waste their time and money like they wasted my time and money.”
Mr. Arnaout’s frustration with police apparently stemmed from a number of run-ins in which he believed authorities failed to help him; at one point he called police about a “bullying” roommate, while another time he lodged a complaint about a talent agent who took his money but did not find him work.
Police “said they didn’t have time” to help, Mr. Arnaout testified.
Probed about the contents of the tainted water — the accused sent out four cases in 2004 to talent agencies, a judge and a bank — Mr. Arnaout said he injected a foul-smelling painkiller through the lids, knowing this would spur recipients to call police.
(The court has previously heard the water contained dimethyl sulfide, a posionous industrial solvent.)
Mr. Arnaout held a grudge against one of the talent agencies and against the CIBC bank over a credit dispute, but was on fine terms with the other recipients, he said.
“I wanted to confuse the police,” the accused testified under questioning by defence laywer Richard Stern.
He cited similar motives for sending out several explosive packages in 2007, noting two of them were designed with faulty igniters and thus posed no real harm.
Mr. Arnaout, clad in a dark suit and blue blouse, spoke quickly and quietly in a halting Lebanese accent.
His testimony resumes this afternoon.
National Post

Lebanon opens fire on IAF jets

From The Jerusalem Post


Photo by: AP

Lebanon says its army has opened fire on four Israeli warplanes that flew into Lebanese airspace.

The Lebanese army said in a statement that its units used anti-aircraft fire Sunday to force the Israeli warplanes out of Lebanese airspace.

The army said the planes were in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley, in central Lebanon.

Israeli warplanes frequently fly over Lebanese airspace in what Israel says are reconnaissance missions. The overflights and violations of UN Security Council resolutions have been a constant source of tension between the two countries.

Sunday’s events come amid heightened tensions in the Middle East following some of the sharpest exchanges in years between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

Noni Darwish on CFRA Jan 2 2010

This is a 40 minute interview with Noni Darwish about her life as a Muslim woman in the west, freedom of speech and why the west must equip itself to deal with Islam if it wishes to hold on to all it has accomplished.

Untitled from Vlad Tepes on Vimeo.

Taking stock of Iran: Iran attacks German satellite

Lets see:

Iran is fighting a proxy war against Saudi Arabia by funding militants in Yemen.

Iran recently sent men and tanks to take over an Iraqi oil well a good distance within Iraq and took down the Iraq flag and hoisted an Iranian one

Iran is funding and equipping the terrorists in Gaza to attack Israel and at this time also Egypt. It is worth remembering that there is a main street in Tehran named after the man who murdered Anwar Sedat for having made peace with Israel.

Iran of course has Hizbolah cells that have all but taken over Lebanon and have a great deal of influence in Syria. Now Hizbolah has serious bases in Venezuela and will certainly give Chavez a lot more than he bargained for when the US is forced to retaliate for Hizbolah actions originating out of Venezuela, as is more and more likely.

Now we have this from The Local.DE with a deep thanks to the Baron over at GOV

Photo: DPA

Iran interferes with German news satellite

Published: 2 Jan 10 11:55 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20100102-24309.html

The German state foreign broadcasting network Deutsche Welle (DW) was the target of a deliberate jamming signal originating in Iran, according to a report in news magazine Der Spiegel.

According to the report, the French national radio regulatory agency Agence Nationale des Fréquences wrote to the Iranian Ministry of Communication saying that on December 7 and December 8 signals had been detected that looked like “deliberate interference” with the DW satellite.

The affected satellite was the Hot-Bird satellite belonging to Eutelsat. The satellite operators apparently reacted to the disturbance by increasing the broadcasting power, whereupon the disturbance signal was also strengthened, cutting out an Arabian language TV broadcast from DW.

The origin of the disturbance was traced to the area of Tehran. Similar disturbances coming from Iran were already detected by the French authority in May and June 2009.

The Local (ne**@th******.de)

Hizbullah: Big security fear is Al Queda

h/t Islam in Europe

From The National.ae

Hizbollah goes public with security worries

Mitchell Prothero, Foreign Correspondent

  • Last Updated: November 03. 2009 9:53PM UAE / November 3. 2009 5:53PM GMT

Hizbollah militants stand at attention during a service for a recently assassinated commander. Tara Todras-Whitehill / AP

Beirut // A series of mysterious events along Lebanon’s tense border with Israel, as well as growing concern that the Shiite community could be targeted by Sunni militants, had pushed Hizbollah to increase security to previously unseen levels, according to members of the Shiite movement, as well as independent observers.

Hizbollah officials and members say the group faces a series of threats that, when combined, pose some of the greatest security challenges that the group has seen since the end of the Lebanese civil war in the 1980s.

“We have moved to the highest state of alert we have,” said one Hizbollah military commander, who is responsible for security in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where the group’s top officials and infrastructure is based.

“Between the arrest of over 70 Zionist spies in the last year, threats from Sunni groups with al Qa’eda and the incidents in the south, we have moved to our highest state of alert for internal security,” the commander said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the press. “And we have had to act to prepare for an Israeli attack this winter.”

“In 20 years, I have never seen Hizbollah this paranoid and worried about security incidents,” said a resident of the southern suburbs with close ties to the group, who declined to be named

“We always thought they were paranoid before, but I think they have found a way to be even more so.”

Hizbollah’s armed forces are divided into a security wing, which protects Hizbollah facilities and the communities of its followers, and a military wing whose focus is Israel.

The primary concern for Hizbollah’s security wing at the moment has been a reported influx of Sunni jihadists from across the region who are drawn to Lebanon because of its poor internal security, proximity to Israel and its large population of Shiites, said the military wing official.

“The Qa’eda guys want to target us, you can see their statements on the internet about targeting the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon,” he said. “Now we are seeing new things in many of the Sunni neighbourhoods: Women wearing the niqab, men who dress like Afghans or Pakistanis. We have put many of them under surveillance, but we know that real Qa’eda guys will cut their beards and dress as westerners to avoid us. Continue Reading →

FBI dismantles Hezbollah cell

From The National Post

Alleged Hezbollah cell sold Canadian passport: FBI

Group accused of arms smuggling

Stewart Bell, National Post Published: Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Members of Hezbollah's militia. The Lebanese party is seen as a key terrorist group. Ramzi Haidar/AFP/Getty Images Members of Hezbollah’s militia. The Lebanese party is seen as a key terrorist group.

TORONTO — The FBI has dismantled an alleged Hezbollah cell accused of dealing, depositing counterfeit money in a Canadian bank and selling a Canadian passport to support the Lebanese terrorist group.

Ten people from New York, New Jersey, Lebanon and Venezuela have been indicted and face up to 30 years in prison following an investigation that began in 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Tuesday.

The indictments link Hezbollah to a wide array of crimes, ranging from counterfeiting U.S. currency and money laundering to fencing stolen cars, cellular phones, laptops and Sony PlayStation 2 systems.

The case also implicates Iran and Syria in Hezbollah’s illicit arms network. The suspects allegedly tried to ship guns to Latakia, a Syrian port they said was controlled by Hezbollah. And Hezbollah officials in Iran were allegedly involved in the weapons purchase.

During the investigation, one of the suspected ringleaders told an undercover agent that “Hezbollah receives a great deal of money from Iran” and “maintains small cells throughout the world.” He cited the bombing of a Jewish centre in Argentina as an example.

“The allegations contained in this complaint demonstrate how terrorist organizations rely on a variety of underlying activities to fund and arm themselves,” said David Kriss, the Assistant U.S. Attorney.

The group allegedly attempted to ship 1,200 Colt M-4 machine guns through Syria to Hezbollah. To raise money, it sold passports for $10,000, including a genuine Canadian passport into which a false page had been inserted.

A suspected ringleader of the group, Dib Hani Harb, is the son-in-law of Hassan Hodroj, a member of the Hezbollah Political Council. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah attended Mr. Harb’s wedding.

Mr. Harb allegedly showed counterfeit U.S. currency to a witness, and said it had been manufactured in Iran. He said he had deposited $10,000 worth of the phony bills into a Canadian bank account.

Hezbollah is a militant Islamist group that is backed, trained and financed by Iran. It is a banned terrorist group under Canadian law. The Canadian government’s official profile of Hezbollah accuses it of car bombings, hijackings and kidnappings in Western Europe, South America and Israel.

In a speech last month, RCMP Commissioner William Elliott warned that Hezbollah violence could spread to Canada. “While Hezbollah has not articulated any specific grievance with Canada, from its perspective any state that supports Israel or Israeli interests is the enemy, which casts a wide net,” he said.

Charged are: Mr. Harb, Mr. Hodroj, Hasan Antar Karaki, Moussa Ali Hamdan, Hassan El-Najjar, Moustafa Habib Kassem, Latif Kamel Hazime, Alaa Allia Ahmed Mohamed, Maodo Kane and Michael Katz.

National Post

sb***@na**********.com

‘Hezbollah arms cache’ blows up

BBCNEWS… Reports from southern Lebanon say there have been a number of explosions at a weapons depot belonging to the  movement.

The reports say the depot was housed in an abandoned building near the village of Khirbet Silim in the Dabsheh area. There were no reports of casualties.

Hezbollah denied any link with the blasts and attributed them to the detonation of unexploded ordnance.

Lebanese troops cordoned off the area and restricted access to the site.

No-one was injured in the explosions but they caused panic among local residents who reportedly mistook them for an Israeli air raid.

Israel and the mainly Shia Muslim militant and political movement Hezbollah fought a fierce 34-day conflict in 2006 and the area is littered with cluster munitions dropped during the Israeli bombardment.

Fighting ended under the terms of a United Nations ceasefire which banned Hezbollah from conducting any military action between the border and the Litani River to the north.

Hezbollah stockpiles 40,000 rockets near Israel border

From The Times Online. Below the fold, I will include a number of Stratfor analysis to have been released in the past few days which seem to be indicating an Israeli strike on Iran may be in the works, something Stratfor itself has been saying is at least very unlikely.


Three years after Israel fought a bloody war in Lebanon against Hezbollah, there are fears that hostilities could erupt again — this time with the militant group better armed than ever.

According to Israeli, United Nations and Hezbollah officials, the Shia Muslim militia is stronger than it was in 2006 when it took on the Israeli army in a war that killed 1,191 Lebanese and 43 Israeli civilians.

Hezbollah has up to 40,000 rockets and is training its forces to use ground-to-ground missiles capable of hitting Tel Aviv, and anti-aircraft missiles that could challenge Israel’s dominance of the skies over Lebanon.

Brigadier-General Alon Friedman, the deputy head of the Israeli Northern Command, told The Times from his headquarters overlooking the Israeli-Lebanese border that the peace of the past three years could “explode at any minute”.

His concerns were due partly to threats from Hezbollah’s leadership. Last month Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, warned that if the southern suburbs of Beirut were bombed as they were in the last war, he would strike back against Tel Aviv, the largest Israeli city.

“We have changed the equation that had existed previously,” he said. “Now the southern suburbs versus Tel Aviv, and not Beirut versus Tel Aviv.”

Hezbollah’s rearming is in the name of resistance against Israel. The real reason, however, probably has more to do with its ally Iran. If Israel carries out its threat to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, the main retaliation is likely to come from Hezbollah in Lebanon.

All sides agreed that the threat was not a bluff. Last month the scale of the Hezbollah build-up was revealed after an explosion at an ammunition bunker in the village of Khirbet Slim, 12 miles from the Israeli border.

Surveillance footage obtained by The Times showed Hezbollah fighters trying to salvage rockets and munitions from the site. Obstructions were placed in the way of Unifil peacekeepers going to investigate. Continue Reading →

Australia detains terror suspects

OzBBC…Australian police have arrested four people in the southern city of Melbourne after uncovering what they say was a plot to launch an attack.

The group was preparing a suicide attack on an army base, police said.

More than 400 officers were involved in searching 19 properties across the city before dawn on Tuesday.

The suspects are Australian nationals of Somali and Lebanese descent; one man, aged 25, has so far been charged with terrorism offences.

The man from the Glenroy district of Melbourne is due in court later, as are the others detained in the operation.

‘Sobering’

“Police believe members of a Melbourne-based group have been undertaking planning to carry out a terrorist attack in Australia and allegedly involved in hostilities in Somalia,” a police statement said.

The men’s intention was to actually go into the army barracks and to kill as many soldiers as they could before they themselves were killed,” said Tony Negus, acting chief commissioner of the Australian Federal Police.

Holsworthy Barracks on the outskirts of Sydney was one of the planned targets, according to police.

The attack would have been the most serious terrorist attack on Australian soil, he added.

“Members of the group have been actively seeking a fatwa or religious ruling to justify a terror attack on Australia,” said Mr Negus.

“The sobering element of today’s development is the reminder to all Australians that the threat of terrorism is alive and well, and this requires continued vigilance on the part of our security authorities,” said Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

The country’s security level is unchanged at medium, where it has remained since 2003.

Al-Qaeda links

The police said that the raids came after a seven-month operation involving several state and federal agencies.

Homes across several northern Melbourne suburbs were among those raided, The Australian reports.

It adds that those arrested are thought to be linked to the Somali-based al-Shabab group, which seeks to overthrow the Somali government and is believed to have links to al-Qaeda.

The BBC’s Nick Bryant, in Sydney, says reports suggest electronic surveillance was used to monitor members of the group.

Members of the Melbourne-based cell reportedly travelled to Somalia in recent months to train, The Australian reports.

Al-Qaeda: ‘We Hit Israel From Lebanon, Again’

(IsraelNN.com) h/t gov An al-Qaeda branch apparently active in Lebanon claims to have launched attacks on Israel. The group mocks the Iran-backed Hizbullah terrorist organization and calls for a unified front against Israel and the United Nations under the command of Osama Bin-Laden.

The call to jihad was issued in a video recording released this past week by al-Qaeda of al-Sham, a region known as
These actions, the video claims, were carried out under the direct command of Bin-Laden.
“Greater Syria” encompassing Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and parts of Jordan, Iraq and Turkey. The brief video, titled “Penetrating the Fortresses”, includes statements by al-Qaeda senior leaders such as Osama Bin-Laden, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Ayman al-Zawahiri relating to the jihadist front with Israel. The jihadists, they say, will not sit quietly and will even crawl to get to the front and “free Palestine”.

As an example, the video explains and visually demonstrates how a cell from al-Qaeda of al-Sham (AQASH) supposedly bypassed the Lebanese Army, Hizbullah and UNIFIL forces, launched missiles towards Israel, and then retreated undetected. These actions, the video claims, were carried out under the direct command of Bin-Laden, and it calls for more such attacks against the Jewish State.

The AQASH video claim of responsibility for a rocket attack apparently refers to a January 8, 2009 barrage from southern Lebanon that hit the Israeli city of Nahariya. Three Katyusha rockets injured two people and caused significant property damage. At the time, Hizbullah denied involvement in the incident.

The al-Qaeda cell claims to have perpetrated or having tried to perpetrate additional attacks on Israel, as well. “Some were launched and some were foiled,” the video said flatly.

AQASH calls for the Fatah al-Islam jihadist group, which was once a Syrian front group, and other Islamist organizations in Lebanon to join them in their effforts: “Al-Qaeda is already active in [Lebanon and elsewhere in Greater Syria] and the father-leader, Bin-Laden, must be obeyed.”

Regarding Lebanon, AQASH calls for the cancellation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War, because it “is only for the benefit of the Israelis.” The video further criticizes Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who “decried the actions of the jihadists who fired the Katyushas towards Israel as collaborators of the Israelis”, even though during the last Israeli operation in Gaza, “he did nothing and even agreed that the Crusader forces (UNIFIL) can base themselves in southern Lebanon.” The AQASH voiceover taunts Nasrallah, “So now who are the collaborators?”

The Lebanon-based al-Qaeda branch declared that “Hizbullah is using the Palestinian cause to fulfill Iran’s orders.”

‘Al-Qaeda Will Try to Assert Itself’
Security analysts with the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response (ITRR) expect increased terror activity aimed at Western interests inside Lebanon as the “Greater Syria” al-Qaeda affiliate asserts itself.

“Aside from the named United Nations troops in southern Lebanon, Lebanese government and Western organizations and NGOs are likely to be targeted, as are hotels used by Westerners” the ITRR sources said.

Apparently intended as part of this trend, a large al-Qaeda cell was alleged by Lebanese authorities to have been plotting attacks against UN troops in Southern Lebanon. On July 22, the Lebanese army said it arrested ten people involved in the plot.
Shalev blamed Lebanon for failing to halt the delivery of Iranian weapons.

Collusion Between Hizbullah and Lebanese Authorities
While an al-Qaeda-affiliated threat to Israel appears to be forming in southern Lebanon, Hizbullah logistical and material supply chains are receiving silent acceptance by the Lebanese authorities.

The latter claim was part of a speech delivered to the United Nations Security Council on Monday by Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gabriella Shalev. The explosion that took place in a village in southern Lebanon two weeks ago, which revealed a Hizbullah cache under the noses of UNIFIL, was symptomatic of “a dangerous phenomenon that Israel has been warning about for years.”

Shalev blamed Lebanon for failing to halt the delivery of Iranian weapons into the hands of Hizbullah. The Lebanese-Syrian border is porous, she explained, which entailed a breach of UN resolutions on rearming Hizbullah. The behavior of Hizbullah in southern Lebanon, she said, is an example of “the danger posed to our region by Iran.”