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Hamas' Growing Armed Presence in Lebanon

(JNS) Yaakov Lappin - Hamas has a growing armed presence on Lebanese territory. Two months before the Dec. 10 blast at a Hamas arms depot in a mosque in Burj al-Shemali near Tyre, the mosque was flagged as a central weapons manufacturing workshop in a report by Israel's Alma Center. Maj. (res.) Tal Beeri, director of research at the Alma Center, who served for 20 years in IDF Military Intelligence, told JNS, "Hamas aspires to create precise rockets, guided by GPS, with a range of 20 km. at the first stage. This is a secret project." "Their goal is to be able to fire 200 rockets at Israel from Lebanon in two rounds of fighting, or 100 rockets per round. Until now, only Hizbullah had such capabilities. It is unheard of for another organization in Lebanon to deploy such firepower." Other plans include setting up 122 mm. mortar shells that are launched automatically by a timer. Fatah, the dominant movement at Burj al-Shemali, is certainly unhappy to see Hamas building weapons "under its nose." Hamas' force build-up is occurring with the active support of the Iranian Quds Force. Beeri said Hamas' deputy political bureau chief Saleh Al-Arouri, who is responsible for building West Bank terror cells, has moved from Turkey to Lebanon. "There are hundreds of Palestinian Hamas operatives in Lebanon active in multiple refugee camps." Alma's October report lists 10 more sites across Lebanon used by Hamas to build weapons and train operatives, including in southern and northern Lebanon, and in the eastern Beka'a Valley.
2021-12-23 00:00:00
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