Spotlight on Terrorism : Hezbollah, Lebanon and Syria (November 8-21, 2022)

Overview

• The political stalemate in Lebanon continues, and even after six parliamentary sessions no candidate for the position of president has been agreed on.
• A meeting was held by a Lebanese army delegation, UNIFIL representatives and IDF representatives at UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura in south Lebanon. They discussed Lebanese claims that Israel had “violated the international border.” The Lebanese foreign ministry appealed to UN members to exert pressure on Israel to compensate Lebanon financially for the damage done to the al-Jiyeh oil facility during the Second Lebanon War.
• Hezbollah marked Shaheed Day with a memorial for Ahmed Qasir, the Hezbollah terrorist operative who carried out the first Hezbollah suicide bombing attack on Israel’s headquarters in Tyre on November 11, 1982 (the “first Tyre disaster”). In a speech for Shaheed Day Hassan Nasrallah referred to the explosion in Tyre. He said the elections in Israel would not cause Hezbollah to change its policies, adding that American guarantees could not be relied on when it came to implementing the maritime border agreement.
• UNIFIL turned over two of its positions in south Lebanon to the Lebanese army. The Spanish Brigade gave emergency rescue equipment to four villages in the Marjayoun regional district.
• A Hezbollah delegation held meetings in south Lebanon with high-ranking Fatah figures and representatives of the Nasserist al-Ittihad party.
• Attacks on Syrian targets were attributed to Israel. According to reports, there were three attacks on militias supported by Iran, one along the Syria-Iraq border, another at the Shayrat Syrian army airbase in center of the country and a third along the coast.
• The Iranians took over the shrine of a local Druze holy man in the Jabal Druze region, enraging local residents.

Lebanon

Lebanese presidential elections

• Efforts continue for find a presidential candidate agreeable to all the main power groups in Lebanon. On November 17, 2022, during the sixth parliamentary session devoted to the issue, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri again failed to reach an agreement regarding a suitable candidate. The greatest number of votes was received by Michel Mouawad, the candidate of the anti-Hezbollah bloc, who received 43 votes, less than a majority. There were 46 abstentions. Apparently all the members of the Shi’ite bloc abstained, and their preferred candidate, Suleiman Farangieh, received only one vote (Nidaa al-Watan, November 17, 2022).
• On October 31, 2022, Michel Aoun’s six-year presidency ended. Lebanon’s inability to elect a president creates hardships for the country, especially in view of its current severe economic crisis.

Lebanon-Israel

• On November 11, 2022, a trilateral meeting was held in Naqoura in south Lebanon. Present were representatives of the Lebanese army, IDF representatives and UNIFIL commanders. The topic of discussion was Israel’s alleged “violations” of the Israeli-Lebanese border. A Lebanese army spokesman claimed Israel had to retreat from the Shebaa Farms, the Shuba hills, the northern area of the village of Ghagar, from 13 “occupied areas” (where Lebanon disagrees with the route of the border) and from 17 areas where Lebanon claims Israel permanently violates Lebanese sovereignty. Three days later, on November 14, 2022, Major General Aroldo Lazaro, the UNIFIL commander, met with Lebanese interim Prime Minister Naguib Makati and briefed him on the meeting. Lazaro said it was important for Israel to stop violating Lebanese sovereignty (al-Araby al-Jadeed, November 15, 2022).
• The Lebanese foreign ministry formally appealed to 157 UN members to exert pressure on Israel to pay Lebanon $856 million, compensation for damage to Lebanon’s economy, health and ecology during the Second Lebanon War in 2006, especially to the al-Jiyeh oil facility south of Beirut (al-Nashra, November 11, 2022).

Detention of a Hezbollah operative who collaborated with Israel

• The daily newspaper al-Akhbar revealed that the Lebanese forces detained “Hussein H.,” whom they claimed had been recruited by the Mossad. According to the report, he was the son of a high-ranking Hezbollah figure, had direct ties to the “resistance” [anti-Israeli terrorist organizations] and had fought in the ranks of the organization between 2011 and 2020. In addition, according to the report, in return for tens of thousands of dollars, he gave his handlers information about the structure of the organization, its supply lines and combat plans (al-Akhbar, November 21, 2022).

Lebanon-Iran

• An Iranian delegation^[1] paid a visit in Lebanon to Ali Fadlallah, the son of Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah,^[2] and went to Hussein Fadlallah’s grave in the Haret Hureik neighborhood in southern Beirut. During the visit Ali Fadlallah harshly criticized the sanctions imposed on Iran and the attempts of foreigners to cause internal dissent (al-Nashra, November 11, 2022).

Hezbollah

Hezbollah marks Shaheed Day

• On November 11, 2022, Hezbollah marked Shaheed Day,^[3] issuing a video honoring Ahmed Qasir, the [so-called] “first shaheed,” who, according to Hezbollah, carried out the suicide bombing attack at the IDF’s administration building in Tyre on November 11, 1982. Hezbollah said that the attack not only caused the building to collapse but led to the collapse of Israel’s vision of taking control of Lebanon.
• Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah gave a speech for Shaheed Day, praising “Ahmed Qasir, the prince of shaheeds,” who carried out the suicide bombing attack on IDF headquarters in Tyre. According to Nasrallah, the attack confounded Israel and was the first step in expelling it from Lebanon. Hezbollah also spoke about the results of the Israeli election, claiming that despite the success of the extreme right wing, in his opinion it would not change anything. Every Israeli government since the days of Ben-Gurion, he claimed, was “criminal, occupying and immoral,” and it would make no difference to Israel’s relations with the Arab world. Regarding Lebanon, he claimed the recently-elected Israel government understood only the language of force, and that was how Hezbollah would act. He claimed the American guarantees regarding the implementation of the maritime border could not be relied on. Regarding the mid-term elections in the United States, he said there was no difference between Republicans and Democrats because both supported Israel and its crimes (al-Manar, November 11, 2022).
• A Shaheed Day “naval demonstration” was held off the coast south of Sidon (Ali Shoeib’s Twitter account, November 14, 2022).

Delivery of weapons from Syria to Lebanon

• The Saudi Arabian news agency al-Hadath reported that Hezbollah recently transferred missiles with chemical warheads from the research center in Masyaf (in the Homs region) to the region of the town of al-Qaseir in north Lebanon, on the Syria-Lebanon border. The missiles were carried by non-military vehicles. Reportedly, the operation was carried out under Iranian supervision, and North Korean experts helped load the warheads. According to the report, the missiles were transferred because Hezbollah was concerned their place of storage had been revealed (al-Hadath, News Folio website, November 20, 2022). So far the report has not been verified.

South Lebanon

UNIFIL

• On November 11, 2022, UNIFIL commander Major General Aroldo Lazaro signed and order transferring two UNIFIL positions to the Lebanese army (Aroldo Lazaro’s Twitter account, November 11, 2022). No additional information was supplied. Apparently the objective was to reinforce Lebanese army presence in south Lebanon.

•  UNIFIL’s Spanish Brigade gave equipment to the local volunteer firefighters in villages in the Marjayoun regional district. Francesco Gutierrez, the Spanish Brigade commander, said it would improve the volunteers ability to provide emergency services, including putting out fires and extracting people trapped under rubble (al-Nashra, November 18, 2022).

Meetings of high-ranking Hezbollah figures

• Hajj Khalil Isma’il, Hezbollah operative responsible for south Lebanon, and Abu Waail Zalzali, who holds the refugee camp portfolio, met with Kamal Yunes, responsible for south Lebanon in the Nasserist al-Ittihad party.^[4] They called for continuing internal Lebanese cooperation, noting that the army, the people and the “resistance” through the Syrian axis were the key to a firm stance against Israel and the United States. They also expressed support for the “uprising” [increase in terrorist attacks] in Judea and Samaria (Ya Tyre, November 9, 2022).

Palestinians in Lebanon

Riots in the Rashidiya refugee camp

• According to the social networks, on November 12, 2022, there were armed clashes in the Rashidiya refugee camp, during which shots were fired and RPGs were launched. Several local residents were wounded. Following the riots Palestinian families left the camp and went to live in Sidon (Facebook page portal of the Sidon neighborhood, November 12, 2022).
• On November 4, 2022, Hamas held a meeting in the town of Wadi al-Zina, east of Sidon, in support of the Lion’s Den terrorist network in Nablus. The meeting was attended by Hamas, Lebanese and Palestinian representatives. During the meeting local Scouts held a parade, holding pictures of Lion’s Den shaheeds. Also present was Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, who claimed the Lion’s Den network was an additional stage in bringing the Palestinian people closer to realizing their rights. He claimed it was a Palestinian achievement what would be completed only after it had been followed by a popular uprising (al-Risalah, November 4, 2022).

High-ranking Hezbollah delegation meets with senior Fatah figures

• A Hezbollah delegation led by Abu Waail Zalzali, who holds the refugee camp portfolio, met with Lieutenant Colonel Tawfiq Abdallah and other high-ranking Fatah figures. The meeting was held in the Rashidiya refugee camp, south of Tyre. Zalzali expressed his support for Hezbollah and the “resistance” [terrorist organizations] and the Palestinian people in Judea and Samaria (Ya Tyre, November 7, 2022).

Syria-Iran

Attacks in Syria attributed to Israel

• The Syrians reported several aerial attacks and attributed them to Israel:
  • SANA (the Syrian Arab News Agency) reported that at 6:30 in the morning on November 19, 2022, Israel fired missiles at a number of bases in the center of the country, the coast and the city of Banias. According to the report, four Syrian soldiers were killed and one was wounded (al-Nashra, November 19, 2022). According to another report, Syrian naval units and a Syrian army intelligence center on the coast were attacked (al-Hadath, November 20, 2022).
  • On November 13, 2022, four missiles were fired at the Shayrat Syrian army air base, near Homs in the center of the country. According to SANA, the attack was carried out at 6:23 in the morning, and the missiles were fired from the direction of north Lebanon. Two Syrian soldiers were killed and three were wounded. The Syrians claimed their aerial defense systems intercepted some of the missiles. According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the attack targeted local facilities of the Iranian-supported militias (al-Araby al-Jadeed, November 13, 2022).

• On November 8, 2022, unidentified UAVs attacked a convoy of trucks and fuel tankers on the Iraq-Syria border near the border crossing east of Abukamal.^[5] A nearby base of the Iranian-supported militias was also attacked. Fourteen people were killed, most of them militia operatives (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, November 9, 2022). A spokesman for the American CENTCOM denied the United States had carried out the attack (Washington Post, November 9, 2022). The Hezbollah-affiliated al-Mayadeen TV attributed the attack to Israel (al-Mayadeen, November 9, 2022).^[6]

Iranian activity in south Lebanon

• Iranians changed the sign on the shrine of a local holy woman named Maqam Sarah in the town of Rashidiya near Suwayda in the Jabal Druze region, and declared it was the grave of Fatma, the daughter of Muhammad and the wife of Ali Bin Abu Taleb, the founder of Shi’a. Renaming the site turned it into Shi’ite shrine and in the future may become a site for pilgrimages. The appropriation of a Druze shrine and turning it into a Shi’ite holy site enraged the local population. Some regarded it as the beginning of the gradual annexation of the site for Iranians and the militias they support in the heart of the Druze region. Others compared it to what happened to the shrine of al-Set Zaynab south of Damascus, which today is a center for Iranian-supported militias (Facebook page of Suwayda A.N.S., November 14, 2022).

^[1] It may have been a delegation of the Secretary General of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought, Hojjat ul-Islam Hamid Shahriari, who arrived for a visit to Damascus where he met with the Syrian Minister of Religious Endowments, Mohammad Abd al-Sattar al-Sayed and Syrian clerics. For further information, see the November 17, 2022 bulletin, "Spotlight on Iran, November 307, 2022). ↑
^[2] Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, Ali Fadlallah's father, is a senior Lebanese Shi'ite cleric whom many consider Hezbollah's religious authority and a founder of its religious perspective. ↑
^[3] Every year Hezbollah marks Shaheed Day on November 11, to commemorate the 1982 attack in Tyre in which 91 people were killed. While Hezbollah claimed the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber, Israel said "the first Tyre disaster" was caused by a gas leak. Israel recently announced a joint investigation would be carried out by the Israeli Security Agency, the IDF and the Israel Police Force to reexamine the events that caused it (IDF spokesman, November 17, 2022). ↑
^[4] Al-Ittihad is a Lebanese political party whose platform is based on the ideology of former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. ↑
^[5] For further information, see the November 17, 2022 bulletin, "Spotlight on Iran, November 3-17, 2022). ↑
^[6] For further information, see the November 7, 2022 bulletin, Spotlight on Terrorism – Hezbollah, Lebanon and Syria, October 26 – November 7, 2022). ↑

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