Israeli intelligence agencies recently succeeded in thwarting a major Hizbullah terror attack against an Israeli target in Europe, Channel 2 reported Wednesday, citing security officials.
Slain Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniyeh.
Photo: AP
The attack was reportedly thwarted by Israel in conjunction with a European intelligence agency.
Hizbullah planned the attack to avenge the February 2008 assassination of arch-terrorist Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus, the report said.
Last week, Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered Israeli security services to raise their level of alertness out of fear that Hizbullah would increase its efforts to launch an attack against an Israeli or Jewish target abroad ahead of the first anniversary of Mughniyeh's assassination on February 12.
Mughniyeh was the commander of Hizbullah military forces and was assassinated in a car bombing in Damascus. While Israel did not claim responsibility for the assassination, Hizbullah has declared its intention to avenge Mughniyeh's death by striking at Israel.
The assessment in the Israeli intelligence community is that Hizbullah is planning the attack in a way that will not leave behind its direct fingerprints. Hizbullah is believed to have extensive terror infrastructures in Africa and South America and was allegedly behind the bombings in 1992 and 1994 in Buenos Aires.
The intelligence community believes Hizbullah is deterred from launching an attack along the northern border because it is scared of Israel's potential response.
The two recent Katyusha rocket attacks into northern Israel are believed to have been carried out by a Palestinian terror group.
