What we know about the al-Ezz Islamic Brigades

On Sunday, the name of the al-Ezz Islamic Brigades appeared in the press for the first time, on day 100 of the Israel-Hamas war. No explanation accompanied the statement released by this unknown armed group, which seemingly came out of nowhere.

The group announced that it had carried out an incursion into the disputed Shebaa Farms, which is occupied by Israel, at dawn on Sunday, coming from the Lebanese-Israeli border line, causing “some losses to the Zionist enemy.”

Southern Lebanon is Hezbollah’s undisputed stronghold. In the current context of daily shelling between Hezbollah and the Israeli army since Oct. 8, 2023, on both sides of the Lebanese-Israeli border, “nothing takes place there and no infiltration can occur in disputed Israeli or Syrian territory without Hezbollah’s consent, whether it is behind it or aware of it,” said retired general Khalil Helou.

Incursion preceded by a reconnaissance mission

In a press release, a group of fighters claiming to be members of the al-Ezz Islamic Brigades announced that they “carried out an incursion from Lebanon into Israeli territory, in the occupied Shebaa Farms.”

“Our brigade members fought hand-to-hand against a patrol of the Zionist enemy near the site of Ruwaisat al-Alam, causing some losses,” said the statement, which was relayed by the local and regional press.

“Three martyrs have fallen in combat, while two others were able to return [to Lebanon] unharmed,” added the press release, which revealed that its members led “an initial reconnaissance mission that lasted 35 hours on Dec. 8, 2023,” which led to “the deaths of three of them.”

The Israeli army claimed that a patrol “in the Har Dov area” (the Israeli name for the Shebaa Farms) shot dead “four terrorists” who attempted to infiltrate into Israel.

“Israeli soldiers spotted a terrorist cell that entered Israeli territory from Lebanon and opened fire at them. They killed four terrorists,” the army said in a statement.

What is this al-Ezz Islamic Brigades group? No one knows or wants to answer this question, at least for the moment. “We have no information at the moment,” said Rana Sahili, a Hezbollah spokeswoman, to L’Orient-Le Jour.

Hamas also denied association with the al-Ezz Islamic Brigades. Its spokesman Walid Kilani said that the infiltrators were “certainly not affiliated” with Hamas. “We are waiting to see whether this tiny group is Palestinian or not. To do so, the identities of those killed will have to be revealed,” he added.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad made a similar statement. “We are stunned. We have never heard of this group. Moreover, we are not linked in any way to this operation,” stressed the Palestinian group’s press officer Khaled Abou Hayt, who despite that “welcomed any resistance initiative against the Zionist enemy.”

The al-Ezz Islamic Brigades statement on Sunday said that the operation led in Israel was intended to send out three messages. It was intended as a response to the Jan. 2 assassination of Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri by an Israeli air strike in Beirut’s southern suburb.

It also intends to send a message to the “Zionist enemy” to “put an end to its war against Palestine and Lebanon.” Finally, it is a message of “solidarity” to the Palestinian people in Gaza and to Hamas’s armed wing al-Qassam Brigades.

Thousands of foreign fighters

Nothing in these messages gives the slightest clue as to the identity of this group. “This is the first time we have heard of a group calling itself the al-Ezz Islamic Brigades. We were surprised like everyone else. We don’t even know to which party it is linked, whether Lebanese, Palestinian or other,” said a resident of Shebaa, on condition of anonymity.

Once the surprise was over, a few hypotheses emerged. One of them is that Hezbollah does not claim responsibility for some actions in order to avoid a possible Israeli response. “The creation of small groups is part of Hezbollah’s modus operandi, as it is keen not to take responsibility for certain actions, such as these incursions [into Israeli territory or territory occupied by Israel],” said Imad Salameh, professor of international relations at the Lebanese American University (LAU).

MP Ashraf Rifi (an opponent of Hezbollah) told al-Alarabiya.net that it is “Hezbollah’s habit to invent organizations with fictitious names in order to escape its responsibility.”

The question at the moment is about the nationality and religion of the al-Ezz Islamic Brigades’ fighters. “Are they Lebanese or Palestinian, Iraqi, Yemeni or even Afghan? Sunni or Shiite?” asked Salameh, recalling Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah’s promise to send “thousands of foreign fighters” from all over the world to the Israeli border.

Hezbollah could well use this card and send non-Lebanese fighters to southern Lebanon. “This would be a sign of an escalation initiated by Hezbollah, which decided to put pressure on the Hebrew state by no longer maintaining stability on the Lebanese-Israeli border,” said the academic.

This article was originally published in L'Orient-Le Jour. Translated by Joelle El Khoury.