Soccer Dad

PIJ or Hezbollah

Roger L. Simon writes that the difference between Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad have been difficult to discern. He points to Captain's Quarters (and disagrees with CQ) that they are distinct terror groups.
Yes, Hezbollah has been distinct from PIJ and other terror groups, but as Matthew Levitt pointed out a couple of years ago in "Hezbollah's West Bank Terror Network", Hezbollah, no longer defending itself against Israeli strikes in Lebanon has taken the opportunity to branch out.

Following the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000, Hezbollah shifted its resources to the Palestinian front. It's television station, Al-Manar, increased its daily broadcast hours from four to 24, spewing forth a relentless stream of incitement against Israel. It also dramatically increased its support for Palestinian terrorist groups, such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Hezbollah was involved in three major attempts to smuggle arms to the territories. In January 2001, Israel intercepted a ship carrying a large load of weapons, the San Torini, that had embarked from Lebanon. A year later, Israel intercepted the Karine A, which embarked from Iran with a Hezbollah-trained crew. In May 2003, Israel seized an Egyptian fishing boat, Abu Hassan, attempting to deliver explosives from Lebanon to Gaza. One member of its crew, Hamad Masalem Mussa Abu Amra, was a Hezbollah explosives expert. Other efforts were made to smuggle weapons into the West Bank via Jordan.

Although Levitt writes that Hezbollah has more recently attempted to build its own organization in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, I've seen reports that it continues to assist Hamas and PIJ.
Aaron Mannes also wrote this about 15 months ago:

Hezbollah tutored al-Qaeda in blowing up building, simultaneous attacks, and agent handling. But I think Hezbollah is going to take a lesson from al-Qaeda. One of Bin Laden's talents has been taking control of local Islamist terrorist groups and making them part of al-Qaeda. The best example was in Algeria where in the late 1990s the Armed Islamic Group (GIA, remember educated Algerians are French-speakers, the group' actual name is Groupe Islamique Arme), was so brutal that some of its commanders wanted to break away. Bin Laden took advantage of this rift and helped the dissident commanders form the Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC - Groupe Salafiste pour la Predication et le Combat). The GIA declined and the GSPC grew rapidly with Bin Laden's support. But most importantly, the extensive terror networks among the Algerians in Europe fell under control of al-Qaeda.

Hezbollah may be attempting a similar stratagem with the Palestinian groups. First it established warm relationships with any willing Palestinian organization, readily stepping across religious-secular and Sunni-Shiite barriers. Hezbollah has provided training and support since the late 1980s. In the al-Aqsa Intifada Hezbollah has been particularly generous - teaching the Palestinians how to destroy Israeli tanks and build lethal explosives (the bomb used in the March 2002 Passover Massacre may have used Hezbollah techniques.) Hezbollah has also been building its own cells in the West Bank, Gaza, and among the Israeli Arabs.

Now, with the local leaderships decimated and in hiding, Hezbollah has both the reputation and infrastructure to begin directing Palestinian activities on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank.

This article in Ha'aretz from 2/24/2005 suggests that Hezbollah is attempting to co-opt the existing terror groups in Israel:

The Shin Bet security service revealed Thursday it arrested an Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade cell commander suspected of responsibility for a number of terror attacks funded by Hezbollah, Israel Radio reported.

An indictment was filed against Salem Buaqna, a resident of the northern West Bank village of Zeita, for establishing a terror cell following Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

The cell focused primarily on ambush and shooting attacks targeting Israel Defense Forces soldiers. The suspect reportedly planned to carry out a terror attack on a synagogue.

In 2004, Buaqna, also known as Abu al-Eid, appealed for assistance to one of the Palestinian militants who had earlier been involved in the siege at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. A short time later, a Hezbollah operative named Kais Obeid contacted Buaqna and promised him funding for his operations.

It's clear that Hezbollah is involved in territories (to be) controlled by the PA. And apparently still is involved in strengthening the existing terror groups in those areas.

Posted by SoccerDad at February 27, 2005 06:58 AM | TrackBack