Tripoli MP Ashraf Rifi commented on Monday on a previously unknown group, the so-called “Al-Ezz Brigades,” which claimed responsibility for infiltrating the southern border into Israel on Sunday.
Rifi underlined the increasing presence of armed groups operating in southern Lebanon, accusing Hezbollah of having accustomed “us to inventing organizations with fictitious names to evade responsibility.”
Clarifying his aforementioned statement to ‘Alarabiya.net,’ Rifi affirmed to This is Beirut that there is no hidden message behind his accusation. He charged that Hezbollah is “utilizing Sunnis, Palestinians, and even members of different sects or nationalities” to show that it is not the only resistance group on the southern front carrying out operations against Israel.
The so-called ‘Al-Ezz Brigades’ announced in a statement on Sunday that “its fighters were able to penetrate the border fence in the occupied Shebaa Farms and clashed with an Israeli patrol near the Ruwaisat Al-Alam site from zero distance, in which they achieved confirmed casualties.” Three of them were killed, while two were able to return safely.
Rifi also claimed that Hezbollah manipulates fighters from other sects and specific sectarian identities, especially Sunnis, to hold them responsible for certain security actions.
“Hezbollah claims that it controls the border to the south. Therefore, it is assumed that any military action by other groups in southern Lebanon is definitely approved by the Hezb and goes through it.”
Ever since tensions in the south emerged, organizations alongside Hezbollah, such as the ‘Al-Qassam Brigades in Lebanon’ (the military wing of the Hamas movement) and Islamic Jihad, have claimed responsibility for launching missiles from Lebanon towards Israel. New organizations, including the ‘Fajr Forces’ affiliated with the Islamic Group and the shadowy ‘Al-Ezz Brigades,’ have also started to emerge.
