Terror Group Holding Lebanese Prisoners Threatens Hezbollah

Violence in Lebanon isn't that far from Israel. Sign showing the distance between Jerusalem and Lebanese capital city. Illustrative. By Joshua Spurlock

Violence in Lebanon isn’t that far from Israel. Sign showing the distance between Jerusalem and Lebanese capital city. Illustrative. By Joshua Spurlock

One of the Al-Qaeda-inspired terror groups fighting in Syria, the Al-Nusra Front, has threatened to kill Lebanese prisoners if Hezbollah interferes with their fight in Syria. The Daily Star, citing a statement from Nusra, said the terror group wants Hezbollah to stay out of an upcoming battle in Syria, or else.

The prisoners in danger are members of the Shiite Islamic sect, like Hezbollah, and are part of a group of dozens of soldiers and security personnel captured in a fight in the Arsal region in Lebanon, which is near the Syrian border. Another terror group, ISIS, also was part of the battle and also has prisoners. The Daily Star reported that Lebanon is considering the demands to release prisoners from the terror groups in exchange for the captured Lebanese.

The prisoner standoff has been complicated. The Daily Star reported that five prisoners had been released already, with the Lebanese mediator claiming that the release was not part of the broader negotiations. Meanwhile, The Daily Star reported separately that ISIS beheaded one of their Lebanese prisoners, whose body was received by Lebanese officials on Monday.

The struggle shows that even terror groups such as Hezbollah are not immune to the fight with Nusra and ISIS. That battle has spread to Lebanon in large part due to Hezbollah’s support for the regime against the groups in the Syrian civil war.

Despite being on opposite sides of the Syrian war, Hezbollah shares some ideology and methodology with groups such as Nusra and ISIS. Israeli order valium online canada Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu linked the groups in his comments regarding United Nations peacekeepers who had been kidnapped by Nusra.

“What we see is that al-Nusra, Hamas, Hezbollah—backed by Iran, al-Qaeda and these other terrorists groups are basically defying all international norms, breaking them whether in Lebanon, in Syria or in Gaza,” said Netanyahu, a press releasefrom his office.

“And I think the UN would do itself a great favor if instead of the automatic Israel bashing, they actually turn their attention and their investigative committees against these terrorists who trample every norm on which the UN was founded. I think this is a common effort that all of us have to make against these Islamist terrorist groups that threaten our societies.”

That refrain of a common threat was echoed by a US lawmaker visiting Israel. US Congress Rep. Dana Rohrabacher was quoted in the Israeli press release as saying to Israel about the terror groups, “They are not just a threat to you, they are a threat to the peace of the world and the security of the United States. So we are very, very proud of this tough stand that you have taken and you can count on us.”

Rohrbacher was very supportive of Israel’s stance in the region. “We recognize that Israel is the one force for stability and one force for a long term peace for this region. The rest of the region is awash in tyranny and injustice and gangsterism and terrorism that’s coming from the top, from these people that are running the various organizations, radical Islamic organizations.”

(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, September 1, 2014)

What do you think?