Security officials in Jerusalem Thursday warned of Hezbollah terrorist
attacks against Israeli targets overseas, saying that "a planned attack
is already in motion," Channel 2 reported.
The officials pointed
to Hezbollah's strong desire to avenge the death of Hezbollah's chief of
military operations Imad Mughniyeh, who was assassinated in Damascus in
2008. According to the report, the urgency of the new terror warning
was related to the anniversary of Mughniyeh's death.
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overseas is not necessarily a large group, they are considered to be
very dangerous and very effective, long having striven to carry out a
revenge attack for Mughniyeh.
According to the report, the organization is not planning an attack so
large that it would lead to another war with Israel, but officials
warned that it would try and orchestrate a hard hit on overseas Israeli
targets in the immediate future.
Since immediately after Mughniyeh was killed in 2008, Hizbullah vowed to
avenge his assassination and has reportedly tried to do so several
times. The group's plans to stage powerful and painful attacks were
thwarted by security services worldwide, including in Baku, Thailand in
2008, in the Sinai Peninsula in 2008, and in Turkey in 2009, Channel 2
reported.
Talal Hamia, the Hezbollah commander charged with carrying out the
"Mughniyeh revenge" was involved in the 1992 bombings in Buenos Aires,
Argentina that targeted Jewish centers and the Israeli embassy.
Hezbollah is not acting alone, however. According to the report,
surrounding the Shi'ite group's agents are several people tied to Iran
who are experts in forging passports and other documents.
In February, The Counter-terrorism Bureau issued a warning that advised
against traveling to Egypt, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, the
Ivory Coast Mali, Mauritania and Venezuela.
The advisory warned against traveling to these locations in the imminent
future and to particularly refrain from gathering in places with large
groups of Israelis.
The current threat did not specify any particular target or region.