Israel Alleges Hizbullah Used LAF APCs in Qusayr despite Army Denial
Armored personnel carriers provided by the United States to the Lebanese Armed Forces have been used by Hizbullah forces in Syria, a senior Israeli military official said on Wednesday.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israel "recognized these specific APCs... as those given by the U.S. to Lebanon."
Israel shared the information with the United States "a few weeks ago," the official told reporters. He did not specify how many armored personnel carriers were involved.
Israel fought a devastating war with Lebanon's Hizbullah in 2006 and closely monitors the group's activities. The Lebanese group has been fighting alongside President Bashar Assad's forces in Syria's civil war.
The APCs were probably handed by the Lebanese army to Hizbullah as part "of a deal," the Israeli official said, noting that the armed Lebanese group had "tightened its grip" over central Lebanese institutions.
Images shared on social media in recent weeks showed Hizbullah staging a military parade in the Syrian town of Qusayr, which it retook from rebels in 2013 in its first major victory after it intervened in support of Assad's regime.
Photographs of tanks, armored vehicles and anti-aircraft batteries displaying the movement's yellow flag could be seen.
Washington said last month that the United States would be "gravely concerned" if military equipment it supplied to the Lebanese army ended up in Hizbullah's hands.
The Lebanese army denied that the vehicles in the pictures had belonged to it.
Al-Jadeed TV also quoted Hizbullah sources as saying that the vehicles were seized in south Lebanon after the disintegration of the pro-Israel South Lebanon Army militia following the Israeli army's withdrawal.
According to the Israeli official, Hizbullah has "about 8,000 people in Syria," estimating that 1,700 of its fighters have been killed there since the war began in 2011.
The Israeli official also accused the Lebanese army of building watchtowers on the Lebanese-Israeli border at Hizbullah's instructions and of conducting “joint patrols” with Hizbullah militants.
Israel has sought to limit its involvement in the Syrian conflict, but has carried out sporadic sorties against Hizbullah inside Syria.
Israel says it reserves the right to stop the group acquiring sophisticated weapons from Syria and Iran.
Source: Agence France Presse, Naharnet
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