On November 6, 2023, the online Rai Al-Youm daily reported that the Hamas military wing ‘Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) military wing Saraya Al-Quds had both asked Hizbullah to give them greater freedom and independence in their operations against Israel from South Lebanon. This could indicate a possible escalation in attacks on Israel from Lebanese soil.
According to Rai Al-Youm, the two groups had requested a downgrade from Hizbullah’s “approval-in-advance protocol” for every operation they carried out to being able to merely provide providing “advance notice” for their operations to Hizbullah. They also asked to be provided with more weapons, to be allowed to expand their area of operation, and to be permitted to recruit Palestinian residents of Lebanon.[1]
If this report is accurate, it strengthens Israel’s claim that it is Hizbullah that is directing the fighting from South Lebanon, and that Hamas and PIJ are operating from there with Hizbullah’s full knowledge and consent.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, Hamas and PIJ have announced that they are, for the first time, conducting military operations against Israel from South Lebanon. These operations include launching rockets into Israel and attempts at infiltration by terrorist cells.[2]
Below are the main points of the Rai Al-Youm report.
According to the report, Hamas and PIJ requested that Hizbullah give them permission for the following:
According to Rai Al-Youm, the requests to Hizbullah from Hamas and PIJ were as follow:
To cease to operate according to “the approval-in-advance protocol,” whereby, before an operation is launched approval must be received from the Hizbullah “security bureau,” and instead to operate according to “advance notice” about their operations from South Lebanon. This would mean more freedom of operation against Israel which would also allow the factions to more quickly “display their solidarity with their people in the Gaza Strip”The website stressed that it wasn’t yet known whether a joint security committee had approved this tactical request, but wrote that “the impression received by Hamas is that the Hizbullah leadership would not object to the requests.”
To approve the recruitment of additional young Palestinians in Lebanon to participate in Hamas and PIJ military and logistics operations, so that both militias could increase their manpower in the areas of confrontation
To provide additional weapons and ammunition for use in a broader geographical area so that these could be utilized, and the militias would not have to rely on the weapons in the Hizbullah storage facilitiesRai Al-Youm also noted that these requests were made to Hizbullah following a November 3, 2023 speech by Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, in which he said, among other things, that, “Our front is a front of solidarity with Gaza and it develops according to developments there. All possibilities on our Lebanese front are open.”[3] According to the report, this list of requests, which was transferred to the Hizbullah “security bureau” is concerned with operations in the field and “will not harm or change or correct the manner in which Hizbullah operates, which was decided by Nasrallah when he said [in his speech] that Lebanon is a front of solidarity with the resistance in Gaza.”
[1] Raialyoum.com, November 6, 2023.
[2] For example, on October 10, 2023, the ‘Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for launching rockets at Israel from South Lebanon, Telegram.me/Hamas Movement, October 10, 2023; on November 6, 2023, the ‘Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for launching 16 rockets at Nahariya and southern Haifa, Telegram.me/Hamas Movement, October 10, 2023; and on October 30, 2023, PIJ announced the deaths of two of its operatives when they attempted to infiltrate Israel from South Lebanon, T.me/sarayaps, October 30, 2023.
[3] See MEMRI JTTM Report: Hizbullah Leader Hassan Nasrallah Praises Hamas Attacks On Israel, Denies Involvement In Planning, Salutes Attacks By Houthis And Iraqi Militias On U.S. And Israeli Targets, Warns Israel Against Striking Lebanon; Stresses Hizbullah Is Already Part Of The Battle, November 3, 2023.