Hizbullah pays Palestinian terror militias to attack Israel

Lebanese terror militia now has 42,000 missiles

By ICEJ News

25 Nov 2008

The Lebanese Shi’ite terror militia Hizbullah has reportedly paid tens of thousands of dollars to Palestinian militants, directing them to carry out wide-ranging attacks on the Jewish state in retaliation for the February assassination of the group’s terrorist mastermind, Imad Mughniyeh.

Hizbullah blames Israel for Mughniyeh’s death in a Damascus car bombing on February 12 and has frequently vowed to retaliate. Israel has officially denied any part in the slaying.

The decision to solicit Palestinian gunmen stems from an increasing concern that Israel's military response to any direct attack by Hizbullah would be much stronger than in past conflicts, according to an exclusive report in The Jerusalem Post. Israeli defense officials have recently warned that Jerusalem could target Lebanese infrastructure in any renewed fighting, since Hizbullah is now part of the ‘national unity’ government in Beirut.

So far, the Palestinian terrorist groups have failed to carry out any such attacks, reportedly raising tensions between the Gaza-based militias and Hizbullah.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak cautioned in a Knesset briefing on Monday that Hizbullah has greatly improved its capabilities since the last outbreak of conflict along the Lebanese border in July 2006. Despite a UN-imposed embargo on any arms transfers to the terrorist group, Barak warned, "Hizbullah has three times the ability it had before the Second Lebanon War and now has 42,000 missiles in its possession, as opposed to the 14,000 it had before the war."

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