Israeli Arabs Charged with Smuggling Hezbollah Weapons Into Israel
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- Published on Wednesday, 08 August 2012 13:41
PNN
An Israeli court has charged eight Israeli-Arab drug smugglers with helping Hezbollah to smuggle 20kg of high grade explosives into Israel, Israeli media has reported today.
The men, from Nazareth and the northern village of Ghajar, were charged at the Nazareth District Court, having been arrested by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency). The eight men were allegedly in contact with Lebanese drug smugglers who work for Hezbollah.
Police Commissioner Roni Attia told Israeli media that the smuggled weapons were "ready for use".
A Shin Bet official described the catch as evidence of Hezbollah's growing efforts to engage in terrorism outside of Lebanon. The official said, "The explosives could have been used against any type of target inside Israel.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg of Hezbollah's efforts against Israel...the attempted attack here and the recent attack in Bulgaria are all carried out by the same organization."
The official added that the smuggling of weapons from Lebanon into Israel would have needed approval from Hezbollah's top echelons, likely to have included leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.
Shin Bet has not yet arrested anybody who was meant to carry out the attacks using the smuggled weapons.
