Israel says it killed a terrorist who may be Hezbollah

(Jerusalem) The Israeli army announced on Wednesday that it had killed a suspect wearing an explosive belt in northern Israel on Monday, and mentioned a possible involvement of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah.


The suspect, suspected of infiltrating Israel from Lebanon, was shot dead by Israeli forces in the north of the country while wearing an explosive belt and “we are examining the possibility that the terrorist organization Hezbollah is involved the army said.

After various conflicts, Israel and Lebanon remain technically in a state of war and the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) is deployed in southern Lebanon to act as a buffer between the two countries.

The announcement by the Israeli army and security services comes on the eve of a planned discussion in the United Nations Security Council on the application of resolution 1701 adopted by this body in 2006 and calling on Israel and Lebanon to support a “permanent ceasefire”, an objective on which the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, noted in November 2022 that “no progress[avait] been accomplished”.

According to Israeli media, Israel should take advantage of this meeting to denounce a “new violation” of resolution 1701, which asks the Lebanese government to extend its authority throughout the national territory, and the disarmament of Hezbollah, which de facto controls the south of the country.

According to the army, the suspect, aboard a car, was killed Monday at one of the checkpoints set up by security forces in northern Israel after a device exploded in the area, in the Megiddo junction (about 35 km southeast of Haifa).

The Israeli army suspects him of being also responsible for this detonation, which seriously injured an Israeli civilian, an incident on which the army had imposed censorship, lifted late Wednesday afternoon.

Guess and Hypothesis

“He could have used the explosive belt in the first attack, but decided not to,” the army said during a press briefing.

“We assume he was going to carry out another terrorist attack, but we don’t know how. […] Maybe he wanted to carry out another terrorist attack and then kill himself.”

The identity of the suspect killed was not immediately specified and the army said it did not rule out any assumptions about his nationality.

She said he had other weapons, in addition to his explosive belt.

“The assumption is that due to his neutralization, an additional terrorist attack was prevented,” said a joint statement from the military, police and internal security services.

According to the army, the man with the explosive belt had asked a driver to take him in his car to take him to the north of the territory, before being killed at the roadblock.

The driver, whose identity has not been released, is currently being questioned, the army said, saying that “many questions are unanswered”.

“I commend the security forces for neutralizing the terrorist involved in the bombing at the Megiddo Junction,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant wrote on Twitter.

The situation is being assessed with the government, which will decide on the response to be made, the army said.

The announcement comes as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu prepares to leave for Germany for an official visit, which has been cut short by a day. His office said in a statement that it was “closely monitoring […] security developments.

In 2006, the last major confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah, a powerful Lebanese armed movement, left more than 1,200 dead on the Lebanese side, mostly civilians, and 160 on the Israeli side, mostly soldiers.

The latest anti-Israeli suicide bombing injured 21 people in Jerusalem on April 19, 2016.


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