The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released video and photo evidence of massive Hezbollah weapons storage facilities hidden within civilian villages near the border with Israel over the past several days.
In a joint statement, the IDF and Israel Security Agency (ISA, or Shin Bet, or Shabak) said:
The Golani Brigade, under the command of the 36th Division, continues to conduct limited, localized, targeted raids based on precise intelligence in southern Lebanon. During these operations, the soldiers have located weapons storage facilities and operational tunnel shafts, eliminated terrorists, and conducted raids to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the area.
In one of the raids, the brigade’s soldiers located and dismantled a weapons storage facility and terrorist infrastructure embedded inside civilian homes. Inside the storage facility, the soldiers found weapons, observation equipment, launchers, and intelligence documents belonging to Hezbollah.
This serves as further proof of Hezbollah’s cynical use of civilian infrastructure for its terrorist activities, which endangers the residents of southern Lebanon.
In a briefing to troops in the area, the Commanding Officer of the Golani Brigade stated: “You are carrying out significant and important offensive operations for the benefit of the residents of the north. This is why we are here. Continue to operate professionally and precisely – I am proud of you.”
Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim militia controlled by Iran, has occupied southern Lebanon illegally for nearly two decades, often taking over Christian towns and using civilians as human shields for terrorist operations against Israel.
It is committing two war crimes in attacking Israel: first by attacking Israeli civilians, and second by doing so from civilian areas. Hezbollah also apparently hopes to trigger outrage in the Christian world against Israel when the IDF responds.
The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and United Nations have refused to enforce existing and binding Security Council Resolutions against Hezbollah’s presence and weapons in southern Lebanon. Israel launched a ground operation against Hezbollah after the terrorist organization fired on Israel for nearly a year without provocation, killing nearly 50 Israelis and forcing the evacuation of 74 towns, Jewish and Arab, displacing over 60,000 residents of northern Israel.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
