Two Lebanese nationals, Qassem Salah al-Husseini and Mohammed Shuaib, were identified by the Israeli army Friday as key operators of several cells tied to Unit 840, the special operations branch of Iran’s Quds Force.
On Friday, the Israeli army’s Arabic spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, wrote on X that the two men, killed last month in Lebanon, had overseen weapons smuggling from Iran into Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and Israel’s northern front.
Adraee said that in recent weeks, several cells directed by the pair were dismantled, while earlier this year, in March and April, two other Unit 840 operatives, Syrian nationals Zeidan al-Tawil and Mohammed al-Karyan, were arrested in Syria.
He noted that interrogations revealed many recruits did not know they were working for Unit 840, having been lured with financial incentives without understanding the unit’s true objectives.
According to Adraee, the unit is responsible for planning and directing attacks against Israelis and Jews at home and abroad. The latest operations, he said, followed Israeli measures taken during the war, from disrupting Iranian arms smuggling into Judea and Samaria to striking Syrian military bases used by the unit.
He concluded that Iran’s Quds Force exploits the vulnerable conditions of Lebanese and Syrians “through deception, bribery, and lies” to push them into dangerous missions, pledging that the Israeli army and Shin Bet would continue targeting Unit 840 and its affiliates.
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