Jerusalem Post: Presence of IRGC Forces at Israel's Northern Borders

The Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post reported, citing several photos shared on social media, about the 'presence' of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces in southern Lebanon, near Israel's northern borders. In its Saturday, December 27 issue, the Jerusalem Post referred to the photos published on the IRGC's Twitter account as evidence of Iranian military forces near the border points between southern Lebanon and northern Israel. The photos show several soldiers in Iranian uniforms, some armed, present in the Bekaa and Baalbek regions, which border the Shiite areas of southern Lebanon with Israel. These images were posted on the IRGC's Twitter account on October 24 and December 17 of this year. Under these images, the Twitter account stated: 'We have reached near the heart of the mother of corruption, the accursed Zionist regime, and soon, with the help of God, we will walk over their corpses.' The Israeli research center 'MEMRI,' which monitors developments in the Middle East, also noted the presence of these IRGC forces in southern Israel. According to the Jerusalem Post, based on MEMRI's report, these images were undoubtedly posted by the military forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran on this Twitter account, 'as it is evident in the upload section of that account belonging to Iranian military personnel.' The date of October 2014 on the photos of IRGC forces near the Lebanon-Israel border is significant because, in that month, an attack from southern Lebanon against military personnel in northern Israel occurred, for which Hezbollah officially claimed responsibility. In this attack, two Israeli soldiers stationed at 'Dov Hill' were injured. This was the first time in eight years, after the 33-day war in the summer of 2006 between the Israeli army and Hezbollah, that this Lebanese Shiite organization took responsibility for a military attack against Israel. In late October 2014, Sheikh Naim Qassem, the deputy secretary-general of Hezbollah, stated in an interview with Al-Manar that Hezbollah intended to send a message to Israel that although it was involved in efforts to sustain Bashar al-Assad's regime and defend Syria, it also had sufficient power against 'potential foolishness' from Israel. Following Hezbollah's bombing of Israeli soldiers, regional Arab media reported that Iran had asked Hezbollah to respond to the attack on Iran's nuclear site that had occurred shortly before. Sheikh Naim Qassem also stated in an interview with the Iranian news agency Tasnim on December 2 that Hezbollah, with Iran's help, had acquired long-range missiles with pinpoint accuracy and could target all of Israel.