Hezbollah, dat in Zuid-Libanon helemaal niet aanwezig mag zijn volgens VN resolutie 1701, houdt een grootschalige militaire oefening waarin een militaire post van het Israëlische leger wordt bestormd.
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Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center (IICC)
at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center (IICC)
June 5, 2008
[For photos www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hezbollah_0608e.htm ]
[For photos www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hezbollah_0608e.htm ]
Hezbollah conducted a military exercise in which its operatives stormed a hill representing an IDF outpost. It is the first military exercise made public since the second Lebanon war, designed to deter Israel and Hezbollah's opponents in Lebanon and to establish the concept of "resistance" among the Lebanese public.
Overview
1. On May 27, the anniversary of the IDF's withdrawal from Lebanon, Hezbollah conducted a military exercise codenamed "Homeland Fence". The exercise was carried out by the Lebanese Resistance Units, which belong to Hezbollah.[1] In the exercise, broadcasted on Hezbollah's Al-Manar channel, camouflaged operatives wearing brown berets were seen on training (at an undisclosed location).[2] The operatives were shown firing various weapons (RPG, machineguns, small arms) and storming a hill (which probably represented an IDF outpost). During the exercise, the operatives were seen carrying flags of Lebanon and the green flag of the Lebanese Resistance Units. Al-Manar's reporters interviewed several operatives (without showing their faces), who swore to remain on "the scene of resistance" in order to protect Lebanon (Al-Manar, May 27).
Summary and assessment
2. Since the second Lebanon war, Hezbollah has been rebuilding and even improving its military infrastructure, which was hit in the war. Within that rebuilding, new military operatives have been recruited and sent to basic training in Lebanon (in the south and in the Lebanon Valley ) and advanced training in Iran, as Hezbollah used to do before the second Lebanon war.
3. Ever since the war, Hezbollah has been keeping a low profile, avoiding any public display of its military buildup and the training undergone by its operatives. One exception was the publication of an extensive command post exercise which Hezbollah conducted in early November 2007. That exercise methodically examined the organization's military capabilities, including rockets and anti-tank weapons, based on the lessons learned in the second Lebanon war. The present exercise was the first time Hezbollah operatives have been shown on training, even though the participants were the Lebanese Resistance Units, with Lebanese flags and their own flags, showing the Lebanese cedar (Hezbollah's flags were not shown in Al-Manar's coverage).
4. It is our assessment that the publication of the exercise, for the first time since the second Lebanon war, reflects a sense of security and is designed to deter Israel and Hezbollah's opponents on the Lebanese scene, emphasizing the organization's strength and capabilities. At the same time, we believe that the publication is designed to popularize the concept of "resistance" among the Lebanese public and thus, perhaps even to increase recruitment to the Lebanese Resistance Units.
5. At any rate, the publication of the exercise-as well as the publication of the command post exercise conducted in November 2007-demonstrates once again that Hezbollah continues to openly violate Resolution 1701, building up its military strength using weapons and ammunition transported from Iran and Syria and continuing its activities, such as training, building posts, and reinforcing its military deployment in south Lebanon undisturbed, despite the presence of the Lebanese army and of UNIFIL .
Overview
1. On May 27, the anniversary of the IDF's withdrawal from Lebanon, Hezbollah conducted a military exercise codenamed "Homeland Fence". The exercise was carried out by the Lebanese Resistance Units, which belong to Hezbollah.[1] In the exercise, broadcasted on Hezbollah's Al-Manar channel, camouflaged operatives wearing brown berets were seen on training (at an undisclosed location).[2] The operatives were shown firing various weapons (RPG, machineguns, small arms) and storming a hill (which probably represented an IDF outpost). During the exercise, the operatives were seen carrying flags of Lebanon and the green flag of the Lebanese Resistance Units. Al-Manar's reporters interviewed several operatives (without showing their faces), who swore to remain on "the scene of resistance" in order to protect Lebanon (Al-Manar, May 27).
Summary and assessment
2. Since the second Lebanon war, Hezbollah has been rebuilding and even improving its military infrastructure, which was hit in the war. Within that rebuilding, new military operatives have been recruited and sent to basic training in Lebanon (in the south and in the Lebanon Valley ) and advanced training in Iran, as Hezbollah used to do before the second Lebanon war.
3. Ever since the war, Hezbollah has been keeping a low profile, avoiding any public display of its military buildup and the training undergone by its operatives. One exception was the publication of an extensive command post exercise which Hezbollah conducted in early November 2007. That exercise methodically examined the organization's military capabilities, including rockets and anti-tank weapons, based on the lessons learned in the second Lebanon war. The present exercise was the first time Hezbollah operatives have been shown on training, even though the participants were the Lebanese Resistance Units, with Lebanese flags and their own flags, showing the Lebanese cedar (Hezbollah's flags were not shown in Al-Manar's coverage).
4. It is our assessment that the publication of the exercise, for the first time since the second Lebanon war, reflects a sense of security and is designed to deter Israel and Hezbollah's opponents on the Lebanese scene, emphasizing the organization's strength and capabilities. At the same time, we believe that the publication is designed to popularize the concept of "resistance" among the Lebanese public and thus, perhaps even to increase recruitment to the Lebanese Resistance Units.
5. At any rate, the publication of the exercise-as well as the publication of the command post exercise conducted in November 2007-demonstrates once again that Hezbollah continues to openly violate Resolution 1701, building up its military strength using weapons and ammunition transported from Iran and Syria and continuing its activities, such as training, building posts, and reinforcing its military deployment in south Lebanon undisturbed, despite the presence of the Lebanese army and of UNIFIL .
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[1] In Arabic: Al-Saraya al-Lubnaniyya li-Muqawamat al-Ihtilal al-Israeli , literally: The Lebanese Battalions of Resistance to the Israeli Occupation. It is a volunteer-based military unit founded by Hezbollah in the late 1990s for Lebanese belonging to all ethnic groups. The Units' establishment was meant to give the impression that the "resistance" (terrorism) against Israel was of a national Lebanese nature (i.e., not just Shi'ites). In practice, the initiative failed to take off and Hezbollah remained a Shi'ite terrorist organization.
[2] According to Al-Manar's coverage, the exercise was held in one of the Units' training camps in Lebanon .
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IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
[1] In Arabic: Al-Saraya al-Lubnaniyya li-Muqawamat al-Ihtilal al-Israeli , literally: The Lebanese Battalions of Resistance to the Israeli Occupation. It is a volunteer-based military unit founded by Hezbollah in the late 1990s for Lebanese belonging to all ethnic groups. The Units' establishment was meant to give the impression that the "resistance" (terrorism) against Israel was of a national Lebanese nature (i.e., not just Shi'ites). In practice, the initiative failed to take off and Hezbollah remained a Shi'ite terrorist organization.
[2] According to Al-Manar's coverage, the exercise was held in one of the Units' training camps in Lebanon .
--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
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