Lebanon

Since the outbreak of the war in the Gaza Strip, the Iranian media has published several reports regarding military aid Iran has provided Hamas in the Gaza Strip over the years. Iran does not hide its support for the Palestinians, including Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and even takes pride in it. Iran’s desire to expand its threats against Israel by creating a “ring of fire” around Israel’s borders has led Iran to strengthen its ties with the Palestinian terrorist organizations, first and foremost Hamas. With the Qods Force leading its efforts, Iran assists these organizations by supplying weapons (including rockets threatening central and southern Israel), providing tens of millions of dollars a year to finance the construction of military infrastructure and the ongoing operation of the military force, transferring technological know-how for the development and production of weapons (including rockets), and training operatives (who left the Gaza Strip) through the Qods Force. Iranian media reports on Iran’s military support for Hamas mainly refer to the IRGC’s rocket and missile support, including building self-production capabilities. Prominent in this context is the involvement of former Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani and other senior officials in the IRGC missile field. According to a single statement by a Hamas representative in Lebanon, Soleimani also initiated the concept of the tunnels used by Hamas. Read more...

On the evening of January 2, 2024, an explosion occurred in the Musharrafiya area of the Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut. The attack killed Saleh al-'Arouri, deputy head of Hamas' political bureau and responsible for the movement's terrorist activities in Judea and Samaria. Six other terrorists were killed with him, two of them senior commanders of Hamas' military-terrorist wing in Lebanon. Hamas, Hezbollah and other members of the Iranian-led "resistance axis"[1] accused Israel and published notices condemning the killing, attacking Israel and calling for revenge.. Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of Hezbollah, warned Israel and said that if Israel wanted to wage war with Lebanon, Hezbollah's response would be "unlimited. Apparently, killing al-'Arouri in the heart of Hezbollah's stronghold embarrassed the organization, which sponsored the senior Hamas terrorist responsible for Hamas' ties with Hezbollah and Iran, and perhaps gave it reason to be concerned about the welfare of its senior terrorist operatives, who are also concentrated in the district. Read more...