Hezbollah Again Claims It Operates Inside Israel

In a new campaign in Hebrew, Hezbollah claims that it has been operating inside Israel. In a social media post, an account associated with the Lebanese terror group posted photos it claimed were taken inside Israel. “For those who think they are following our every move, don’t forget to look behind you,” the images were captioned in Hebrew. The post did not say where or when the photos were taken, but the post said that they were shot “in one of the Israeli settlements on the Lebanese border.”

This is not the first time that Hezbollah has used such photos to claim that it has infiltrated Israel. IDF officials told Ma’ariv that the tactic was part of Hezbollah’s psychological warfare against Israelis, and especially against residents of the Galilee. Photos released by Hezbollah in the past have included images shot far from the border, as well as aerial images of sensitive sites. It’s not clear if those images were taken by Hezbollah operatives, or by moles they may have operating inside Israel (among Israeli Arabs or Palestinians), or from publicly available images online.

Hezbollah routinely films Israeli army patrols that drive along the border fence, and in recent months IDF officials have said that the terror group has been using shepherds who graze their flocks along the border for the same purpose.

Lebanese commentators said that if the Hezbollah campaign is psychological warfare, it comes in response to recent Israeli campaigns in Arabic, aimed at residents of south Lebanon, in which Hezbollah terrorists are shown working along the border to spy on Israel in the guise of civilians. Among those are alleged members of a Lebanese group that is supposedly concerned with environmental issues, called “Green Without Borders.” The IDF has said that this group is a front for Hezbollah, and Israel has complained to the United Nations about the presence of the group, which violates the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that was implemented after the Second Lebanon War in 2006. The U.N. Security Council is set to discuss Hezbollah violations of the ceasefire this week.