UANI Resource: Perspectives on Lebanon and Hezbollah

Perspectives: Lebanon and Hezbollah  December 7, 2018 Perspectives: Lebanon and Hezbollah is a UANI weekly resource highlighting developments in Lebanon and the activities of the terrorist group Hezbollah.   Hezbollah and Israel IDF Launches Operation to Destroy Hezbollah Tunnels Reaching into Israel Israel launched an operation this week - dubbed Northern Shield - to locate and destroy Hezbollah tunnels reaching from Lebanon into Israel. While Israel says it knows of the location of all of Hezbollah's tunnels, so far it has publicly revealed the existence of only two: One stretching from the south Lebanon village of Kafr Kila into Northern Israel, near the town of Metulla (the existence of which was denied by Lebanese officials, media outlets, and military, but confirmed by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)); and another that begins in the south Lebanon village of Ramyah. Israel has apparently known of the tunnels for years but kept its knowledge a secret to catch Hezbollah off-guard. So far, Israel says it will confine its activities to the Israeli side of the border. However, IDF Arabic Spokesman Avichay Adraee remained cryptic on whether the Israeli operation would extend into the Lebanese side of the Blue Line. "We'll deal with that at the right time," said Adraee. Hezbollah Silent on the Topic of Tunnels Hezbollah has largely remained silent on the operation, likely because it wants to avoid an escalation with Israel. Another reason, according to Elaph, is that Israel may have warned the group of its intention to destroy the tunnels weeks ago, via a March 8-aligned former Lebanese government minister who has acted as an intermediary between the two sides for some time. Lebanese officials, meanwhile, have signaled their disinterest in escalation, but set about trying to deflect attention and responsibility for the tunnels. They have done so by submitting complaints to the United Nations regarding Israel's violations of Security Council Resolution 1701 - by conducting near-daily aerial and seaborne incursions into Lebanese territory to monitor Hezbollah activity - and by the IDF sending warning messages to south Lebanon's residents regarding Hezbollah's presence and military activities in their villages. In one of the complaints, Amal Mudallali, the Lebanese ambassador to the UN, stated her country's concern that Israel's diplomatic and political messaging in recent days was "preparation for launching an 'aggression' against [Lebanon]." Netanyahu Sends Warning to Lebanon via Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took a surprise trip to Brussels on Monday to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Netanyahu reportedly asked Pompeo to convey a warning to the Lebanese government: Either halt Hezbollah's military actions within Lebanese territory, or Israel would have to do so itself. Hezbollah Releases Video in Hebrew Threatening to Strike Sensitive Sites in Israel After Israel reportedly conducted several strikes in Syria that included Hezbollah targets, the Shiite group's Military Media released a video in Hebrew threatening to strike several sensitive targets in Israel with its alleged precision-guided missiles. Hezbollah's threat to target Israeli sites cannot be taken at face value and must be seen in the context of Hezbollah's constant psychological warfare aimed at Israeli society. Israel has spent the last decade creating a multi-tiered missile defense array, with systems intended to intercept and destroy long and mid-range missiles. Additionally, the larger heat-signature of longer-range missiles, their larger and fixed launching pads, and the time it takes to fuel them would make them easier targets for the Israeli Air Force (IAF) than the more mobile katyusha rockets. During the 2006 war, the IAF launched Operation Specific Weight (Mishkal Sguli), during which it claims to have destroyed most of Hezbollah's long and mid-range missiles in 34 minutes. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also downplayed the threat from Hezbollah's precision-guided missiles this week, saying the group only possessed "a few dozen." Lebanese Security Lebanese Security Forces Attempt to Arrest Hezbollah-Allied Former Minister On December 1, agents with Lebanon's Internal Security Force (ISF) moved into al-Jahiliyya to arrest Wiam Wahhab, a former government minister and Hezbollah ally, for insulting Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his late father Rafic. The arrest attempt failed, and one of Wahhab's  bodyguards died during the confrontation. ISF claims its forces did not fire on Wahhab's entourage, and that the fatal bullet came from one of his own bodyguards. Wahhab disputes this version of events. Hezbollah (and many other groups) sent an emissary - Mahmoud Qmati, the deputy chair of its Political Council - to offer condolences to Wahhab and said Hezbollah stood by its ally in the matter. Mohammad Raad, the head of Hezbollah's "Loyalty to the Resistance" parliamentary bloc, implicitly criticized Wahhab's incitement against Hariri and his late father, but added that while all must respect the law, the law cannot be applied selectively. Additionally, Wahhab claimed Hezbollah tried to prevent the ISF action against him, saying the group contacted Hariri to call off the raid. Sources close to Hariri denied Wahhab's claim, but a Hezbollah source confirmed to LBCI that such a call had occurred, prompting a sharp response from Hariri's Future Movement. Hezbollah Will Not Allow Anyone to Touch any of its Political Allies In the wake of the failed attempt to arrest Wiam Wahhab, Hezbollah sent a veiled warning through Al-Akhbar - a pro-Hezbollah media outlet that often functions as the group's mouthpiece - saying it would not allow anyone to touch any of its political allies. Later, Hezbollah's official newspaper Al-Ahed quoted Wahhab saying that he had received and understood the message from Hezbollah. Cabinet Formation Lebanese Government Formation Remains at an Impasse No progress was made this week in the impasse over the inclusion of pro-Hezbollah March 8 Sunni MPs in Prime Minister Saad Hariri's government. Hezbollah remained adamant about ensuring the "Independent Sunnis" receive a cabinet seat and Faisal Karameh, of these March 8 Sunnis, said they rejected any compromise that would not result in a member of the "bloc" being included in the government. Aoun Gives Hariri 24 Hours to Form Government on Hezbollah's Terms An unnamed source reportedly told London-based Arabic-language news site Elaph that on Thursday, Lebanese President Michel Aoun gave Prime Minister-designate Hariri 24 hours to submit a government formation proposal conforming to Hezbollah's conditions, i.e. including a pro-Hezbollah Sunni minister. Otherwise, Aoun reportedly planned to report the failure to form a government to Parliament and ask it to nominate another prime minister to form a government based on Hezbollah's conditions. United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, broad-based coalition that is united in a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons.  UANI is an issue-based coalition in which each coalition member will have its own interests as well as the collective goal of advancing an Iran free of nuclear weapons.