IDF: Hezbollah conducting clandestine activity under guise of environmental NGO
The Israeli military again accuses the Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist group of conducting clandestine activities along the border with Israel under the guise of an environmental group, known as “Green Without Borders.”
The Israel Defense Forces made a similar claim in June 2017, identifying five observation posts owned by the non-governmental organization, which the army said were actually being used to carry out intelligence and reconnaissance work for the Iran-backed terror group.
“Now we are revealing a new position,” says a senior official from the IDF Northern Command.
The alleged Hezbollah observation post is located in the Lebanese town of Aadaysit Marjaayoun, across the border from the Israeli community of Misgav Am, according to the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The officer says the military believed that Hezbollah was using the site to gather intelligence in order prepare to commit attacks against
The senior official says the IDF had already notified the peacekeeping United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) about the site and hoped it would inspect the observation post.
According to the IDF, this alleged Hezbollah position represents a violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 second Lebanon war.
The resolution calls for armed groups besides the official Lebanese military to remain north of the country’s Litani River.
However, the official acknowledges that the IDF has not seen any arms inside the observation post, “at least not visible arms.”
Despite Resolution 1701 referring specifically to “armed forces,” the IDF officer says Hezbollah’s actions in the area still represented a violation as they amounted to forbidden military activities.
— Judah Ari Gross