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- Al-Ezz Brigades: An Unknown Group in South Lebanon
The Lebanese security forces have not yet determined the identity of the Al-Ezz Brigades, a group that took responsibility for two attacks against the Israeli army which resulted in the death of six of its members.
According to available information, the bodies of some of the victims remained in the territories controlled by the Israeli forces in the Shebaa farms. The Israeli army published pictures of a body and the weapons left behind by the Islamist group. Seemingly, the attackers had strong fighting capabilities and were able to injure five Israeli soldiers.
It is important to note that the Lebanese authorities did not determine whether there were bodies of fighters from this group on Lebanese soil. Neither were they able to find out where they were taken, who they were or where they were buried.
The parties active in military operations in South Lebanon denied any knowledge about the group. Sources close to Hezbollah maintained that they were in no way linked to the organization and that Hezbollah was trying to determine their identity and financiers. Additionally, both Hamas and the Islamic Jihad denied any ties to them, and the Jamaa Islamiya in Lebanon claimed not to know the group, stating that their only military wing is the Al Fajr forces.
A lot of information was shared about the Al-Ezz Brigades, but none of it is clear or substantiated. For example, some said that it is affiliated with Al-Qaeda, while others believe that it is composed of Lebanese, Palestinians and other Arabs who decided to join the struggle against Israel in South Lebanon. If this information is correct, then how did this group succeed at providing logistics and weapons to the border and ignoring the barbed wire in the Shebaa farms? Such actions require cooperation with groups already present that have good knowledge of the area.
Declaring the presence of such a group without determining its identity and that of its members is further proof of the State’s absence, especially near the border. This area has now become a breeding ground for anyone who wishes to form an armed group to fight the Israeli occupant, thus dragging Lebanon into a war that it could surely do without.
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