Hizbullah More Visible in West Bank after Mughniyeh's Killing

by **Admin** Fri Mar 14, 2008 8:55 am

Hizbullah is coming," mourners chanted at the funeral of a Palestinian militant killed by Israel, his body wrapped in the flag of the Lebanese Shiite group.

A Hizbullah flag, along with Hamas banners, also adorned the home of a Palestinian man who was killed after gunning down eight Israeli students at a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem last week. A shadowy group Palestinian security officials say is a front for Hizbullah claimed responsibility for the rampage.

Hizbullah has long operated behind the scenes in the Palestinian territories, funneling millions of dollars to militant groups for attacks against Israel, according to Israeli and Palestinian security officials.

Hizbullah's influence has become increasingly visible in the West Bank since last month's assassination of its military chief, Imad Mughniyeh, in an explosion in Syria that Hizbullah has blamed on Israel.

It remains unclear whether more Palestinian militants are simply taking their cue from Hizbullah, or whether the Lebanese group is getting more directly involved in violence in the Palestinian territories, in part to make good on its threat to avenge Mughniyeh. Hizbullah has been sending large amounts of money to Palestinian militants in the West Bank since 2000.

Israel is concerned that Hizbullah, with Iranian help, is trying to carry out a "quality attack" with many casualties that could trigger harsh Israeli retaliation and perhaps another Israel-Hizbullah war, the Israeli daily Maariv on Thursday quoted Israeli security officials as saying. Israel and Hizbullah fought a destructive but inconclusive monthlong war in 2006.

Israel has not said whether it was behind the car bomb that killed Mughniyeh. But since his death, Hizbullah's leaders have signaled they'll carry out revenge attacks in Israel itself, not just against Israeli targets abroad, said Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, a Hizbullah specialist in Lebanon.

"Hizbullah's leaders made it clear that they are in a new stage of their war with Israel, and definitely the tools will be changed in this new phase," she said.

However, the extent of Hizbullah's involvement remains murky.

A group calling itself "Galilee Freedom Battalions -- the Martyrs of Imad Mughniyeh and Gaza" has claimed responsibility for last week's shooting attack in Jerusalem.

Maj. Gen. Raji al-Nijmi, a senior Palestinian security official, said he believes the group is a Hizbullah front, but said he has no hard evidence that it carried out the attack. "This name (of the group) is a lie, it's just Hizbullah playing politics," al-Nijmi said.

The moderate Abbas government in the West Bank is trying to limit Hizbullah's influence, while the Lebanese group has found an eager ally in the Islamic militant Hamas, which controls Gaza.

Israeli and Palestinian officials have said they suspect possible involvement of both Hizbullah and Hamas in the Jerusalem shooting. The assailant, a 25-year-old Palestinian resident of Jerusalem, was killed by an off-duty Israeli soldier at the scene of the attack. A Hizbullah flag was briefly raised at his mourning house, along with Hamas banners.

On Thursday, mourners marching in a funeral procession for four Palestinian militants killed the day before by Israeli troops in the West Bank town of Bethlehem chanted, "Hizbullah is coming." The bodies of local Islamic Jihad leader Mohammed Shehadeh and another militant were wrapped in Hizbullah flags.

"Mohammed was a big fan of Hizbullah's way of fighting against the Israeli occupation," said the slain man's cousin, Khalil. He said Shehadeh converted from Sunni to Shiite Islam -- the denomination of Hizbullah supporters -- in a show of support.

Hizbullah enjoys widespread popularity in the Palestinian territories because of its actions against Israel, including a war that pushed Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon in May 2000. Hizbullah's star rose further after fighting Israel's mighty army to a draw in the summer of 2006.

After the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in September 2000, Hizbullah began funneling millions of dollars to Palestinian militants in the West Bank to help finance attacks against Israel, according to Israeli and Palestinian security officials as well as the militants themselves.

Hizbullah worked directly with leaders of Islamic Jihad, who were based in Damascus, but also recruited gunmen from moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement, the security officials and militants said.

Operatives of Fatah's violent offshoot, the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, said Hizbullah approached them from the first months of the uprising and offered help.

One Al Aqsa leader in the West Bank city of Nablus said privately that his group used to receive $8,000 (-5,100) a month to buy weapons and bullets.

Hizbullah halted the payments after most Al Aqsa men accepted an amnesty offer by Israel, said another local Al Aqsa leader, Mahdi Abu Ghazaleh.

However, Israel recently complained to Palestinian security officials that some Al Aqsa activists are still in contact with Hizbullah, said al-Nijmi, the Palestinian security officer.

Israeli intelligence is listening to the phone calls between Hizbullah and the Al Aqsa supporters, al-Nijmi said, adding that Hizbullah has started placing the calls from outside Lebanon to avoid some of the monitoring.

Israeli analyst Efraim Inbar said he believes Hizbullah's influence in the Palestinian territories is on the rise, but it's difficult to quantify it.

Inbar said Israel should be more concerned about Hizbullah's role in Gaza. "We already see Hizbullah methods in Gaza. We know that some Palestinians have undergone training in Hizbullah camps," he said.