The Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah has infiltrated the Lebanese Army’s Intelligence Directorate, according to Tal Beeri, head of research at the Alma Center for the Study of Security Challenges in the North. The IDF cannot treat the Lebanese Army as an independent entity, he said in an analysis published Sunday.
Over the years, Hezbollah had “placed a significant number of Shi’ite officers” into prominent leadership positions, effectively taking over control of Lebanon’s military intelligence, Beeri said.
“For years, Hezbollah has operated numerous Shi’ite officers within it for its own benefit and has concentrated efforts to consolidate its influence because of the Intelligence Directorate’s central role in the Lebanese Army and its significant impact on the army’s operational activity,” he said. “Continued cooperation with Hezbollah from within the army compels Israel to take defensive measures.”
“The army commander, with the backing of the president and the Lebanese government, must immediately dismiss and discharge any officer or soldier, in any unit of the Lebanese Army, who is connected to and cooperates with Hezbollah,” Beeri said. “Reassignment to another position is not sufficient.”
Suheil Gharb, the Lebanese Army’s head of Military Intelligence in southern Lebanon, had been involved in obstructing the investigation into the death of an Irish UNIFIL officer, the IDF reported last Friday.
“Gharb assisted Hezbollah in concealing details of the incident and in tampering with evidence,” it said. “In addition, Gharb helped in attempts to prevent the prosecution of the operatives. Gharb, a Shi’ite, is well known as a collaborator with Hezbollah and maintains close contact with Wafiq Safa, head of coordination and liaison in Hezbollah.”
On January 27, Gharb reportedly had transferred information from the joint operations room of the Ceasefire Monitoring Committee to Hezbollah.
“Among other things, he passed on prior information about the intentions of the Lebanese Army to conduct raids and patrols that could harm Hezbollah’s activities and assets,” Beeri said. “Gharb was appointed by President Joseph Aoun [while serving as army commander] as the army’s representative on the monitoring committee.”
Due to Hezbollah’s significant influence within the Lebanese Army, most of the current, ongoing “disarmament activity” taking place south of the Litani River is happening in coordination with the terrorist group,” he said. “This coordination is reflected in the providing of prior information, coordinating arrival to certain areas, and with high probability even returning ‘confiscated’ weapons to Hezbollah [the ‘revolving door’ method].”
Other figures connected to Hezbollah
It was also recently revealed that Brig.-Gen. Maher Raad, head of the Military Intelligence office in Shiyyah – who was later transferred to another position within the intelligence directorate – had overseen smuggling operations in the country alongside senior Hezbollah figures, notably Safa.
Additionally, another Shi’ite officer from the Intelligence Directorate, Yahya Husseini, who served in southern Lebanon and worked for Hezbollah, was exposed.
“Husseini was a lieutenant-colonel and served as an intelligence officer in the Hasbaya sector in southern Lebanon,” Beeri said. “Husseini, who was promoted in 2017, was linked to the August 2010 Lebanese Army shooting incident against the IDF in the Adisa area, during which IDF soldiers were killed and wounded.”
According to various reports, Husseini – under the guidance of Hezbollah – persuaded Lebanese soldiers to open fire. At the end of 2017, Lebanese Ambassador to the UN Nawaf Salam, who is now Lebanon’s prime minister, denied that Husseini had cooperated with Hezbollah.