Hezbollah and Israel scuffle intermittently in the disputed border area between Lebanon and the Jewish state, and the powerful Shiite Muslim group has in the past targeted army patrols in response to strikes against its members.
Advertisement
Israeli forces on Wednesday arrested five members of a West Bank “terror cell” that operated under the guidance of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement.
The Shin Bet agency and the Israeli military say Jawad Nasrallah, the son of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, solicited a Palestinian online who recruited other Palestinians into a militant cell.
The cell was based in the Tulkarem area and was plotting a shooting attack. He opened an email account through which he was instructed to recruit other cell members and to gather preliminary information for the goal of carrying out terror attacks.
Israel fought a monthlong war against Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants in 2006.
To that end, Hezbollah transferred $5,000 to the cell in the form of foreign currency transfers. Labdi and Zaghloul have both been imprisoned previously by Israel.
“This is another attempt by Hezbollah to carry out an attack Israel, which has been thwarted by the Shin Bet and the IDF”, security forces said.
“Hezbollah is trying to ride the current wave of terror attacks in Israel and is acting to inflame and incite by exploiting the Palestinian population and tempting them to carry out terror attacks in exchange for money”, said a spokesperson for the ISA. Hezbollah usually does not comment on such cases and officials at their offices in Beirut were not immediately available for comment.
Advertisement
The five suspects have been indicted in a Samaria military court on counts including membership in an illegal organization; contact with the enemy; funneling enemy funds into the region; intent and involvement in manslaughter; weapons dealing; intent to shoot at people; and interfering with legal proceedings.
