Alliance Against Nuclear Iran: Hezbollah Continues Weapons Accumulation

The Alliance Against a Nuclear Iran organization states that Hezbollah, supported by the Islamic Republic, continues to violate UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which was adopted in 2006, by acquiring drones and weapons. According to the report, Gilad Erdan, Israel's ambassador to the UN, requested in a letter to the UN Security Council on June 22 to condemn Hezbollah's blatant violation of this resolution. He also mentioned Hezbollah's establishment of military posts along the 'Blue Line,' the demarcation between Israel and Lebanon, which UN peacekeeping forces patrol, stating: 'This disturbing act is a gross violation of Israel's sovereignty. Furthermore, Lebanon's failure to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and halt Hezbollah's illegal and destabilizing activities is evident, once again revealing the expansion of Hezbollah's military complexes and bases along the Blue Line.' The website of the Alliance Against a Nuclear Iran lists a timeline of significant military and political milestones for Hezbollah, including the acquisition and use of Iranian weapons, which have significantly increased since the implementation of Resolution 1701. For example, on July 10, 2021, the Israeli army and police thwarted a nighttime attempt to smuggle dozens of weapons from Lebanon into Israel. Officials believe the seized weapons were intended for Hezbollah forces in Israel. On April 16, 2022, Israeli army forces prevented arms smuggling by Hezbollah at the Lebanon border, resulting in the seizure of several assault rifles and about 100 hand grenades. The confiscation of these small arms is just a glimpse of the extensive smuggling operations in an area patrolled by UN peacekeeping forces. Hezbollah's arms smuggling operations have intensified since 2021, coinciding with renewed activity among Palestinian nationalist groups, including terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, which are supported by Iran. These actions align with the stated goal of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to arm Palestinian militants in the West Bank in the same manner as those armed in Gaza. As Hossein Salami, the commander of the IRGC, stated last year: 'When something grows inside the country, it cannot be stopped.' The United States designated Hezbollah as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997. Iraq is investigating the abduction of an Israeli researcher by an Iran-affiliated group. The Israeli army: In response to regional missile attacks, we targeted southern Lebanon. Hezbollah dismantled one of its temporary bases from Israeli territory.