Vehicles of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrolling near the village of Kfar Kila, in southern Lebanon, along the concrete wall erected by Israel, in 2018. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — Two Israelis suspected of trafficking weapons and drugs from Lebanon on the orders of Hezbollah have been arrested, the Israeli army announced Sunday.
Here’s what we know:
• “Cells accused of sabotage, arms and drug trafficking on the Lebanese borders under the auspices of the Iranian axis have been arrested,” Avichay Adraee, an Arabic-speaking spokesman for the Israeli military, announced via Twitter.
• “Among them were imprisoned individuals suspected of being part of a terrorist infrastructure with sabotage objectives, sponsored by Hezbollah. These individuals operated on the direct orders of the so-called Khalil Harb,” Adraee wrote, accompanying his tweet with an organizational chart according to which the two Israeli suspects, Sultan Atallah and Rami Chami, acted on Iranian orders in cooperation with Hezbollah.
• Two other individuals who, according to Israel, belong to the Shiite party, have been identified: Akram Sheet, from Kfar Kila, and Hussein Sheet, also from the same village in southern Lebanon.
• According to the Israeli officer, “a series of meetings recently took place between Lebanese drug and arms dealers and Israeli and Palestinian activists, in an effort to carry out sabotage actions inside Israel.”
• “In one of these meetings, the individuals claimed that Hezbollah and Iran are behind this trafficking operation,” Adraee added.
• Adraee also said that the two arrested suspects “met in Turkey with Hassan and Akram Sheet, who are known to be drug traffickers …, at the end of November last. During this meeting, the two suspects received orders to smuggle weapons into Israel.”
• Adraee also said that “the Israeli forces have uncovered, throughout the past year, cases showing the link between drug trafficking and arms trafficking from Lebanon.”
• He added that the foiled operations resulted in the seizure of dozens of guns and kilos of drugs.
• In November 2021, the Israeli army claimed to have thwarted arms and drug trafficking from Lebanon. Similar announcements were made in October and June of last year.