Lebanon Hosts Terrorists, Points Massive Arsenal at Israel, Then Complains When Israel Defends ...

In the past few decades, Lebanon has allowed the Hezbollah terror militia and several Palestinian terror groups, including Hamas, to use its territory to plan and launch attacks against Israel. Hezbollah, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad – the three major officially-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations operating in Lebanon – are all armed and funded by Iran.

The Lebanese government and army have done nothing to stop these terrorist organizations from establishing military bases, placing an estimated 150,000 rockets and missiles -- some precision-guided, in addition to "new weapons" -- along its 75-mile southern border, and turning Lebanon into a launching pad for attacking Israel….Many of the leaders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are currently based in areas controlled by Hezbollah in the Lebanese capital of Beirut and other parts of the country.

For the past few years, the leaders of these three terror groups – Hezbollah, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad – have been holding regular meetings to coordinate and advance their campaign of terrorism against Israel.

In early January, the Lebanese government filed a complaint with the United Nations Security Council over Israel's alleged assassination of Hamas arch-terrorist Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut. Al-Arouri, already before October 7, had been responsible for a series of terror attacks against Israelis, including the 2014 abduction and murder of three Jewish teenagers in the West Bank.

In its complaint to the Security Council, the Lebanese government failed to mention that al-Arouri, a wanted terrorist leader, had found shelter in Beirut and that the Lebanese authorities never did anything to arrest him or stop him from pursuing his terror campaign against Israel.

The Lebanese government cannot say that it was unaware of al-Arouri's presence in the country: he himself never hid that he was in Beirut, where he held meetings with other terrorist leaders and gave interviews to Arab media outlets.

The Lebanese government is now shedding tears over the death of a senior Hamas terrorist who had demonstrated total disregard for Lebanon's sovereignty and security by using the country as a base for planning and executing terrorism.

Addressing the Security Council, the Lebanese government described the killing of al-Arouri as the "most dangerous phase" of Israeli attacks on the country. Lebanon's formal complaint stated that Israel had used six missiles in the attack that killed al-Arouri and accused Israel of using Lebanese airspace to bomb Syria.

It is good to see that the Lebanese government has finally woken up to notice that Lebanon is on the verge of a new war with Israel. The war, if and when it erupts, will be in response to terror attacks, including 12,000 rockets and missiles launched by Hezbollah and Hamas against Israel just since October 7. In just one day, January 6, 2024, Hezbollah fired 40 rockets from Lebanon into Israel. Think of New Jersey being attacked by 12,000 rockets and missiles, or 40 rockets in one day. These attacks include firing thousands of missiles into Israeli towns and attempts by terror cells to infiltrate over the border into Israel. Some 80,000 Israelis living near the Israel-Lebanon border have since been displaced as a result of the daily attacks on their communities.

On the same day that the complaint was filed against Israel, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah revealed in a speech that his terror militia had conducted around 670 armed attacks against Israel since October 8. 

Instead of criticizing Israel for defending its citizens against the Hezbollah and Hamas attacks, the Lebanese government should enforce Security Council Resolution 1701, according to which Hezbollah was supposed to withdraw all its terrorists north of the Litani River in southern Lebanon. The resolution called for deploying Lebanese and UNIFIL forces to southern Lebanon, the disarmament of armed groups, including Hezbollah, and the need for the Lebanese government to fully exert control over the area.

Not only has Lebanon failed to enforce the UN resolution, but it has also allowed Hezbollah to launch missile attacks against Israel.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20295/lebanon-hosts-terrorists