By Nohad Topalian | 2024-07-23

BEIRUT -- Hizbullah continues to smuggle weapons and fighters across the Lebanese-Syrian border as it seeks to augment its fighting force, which is being depleted by its war with Israel, activists and security personnel said.

In a June 19 speech, Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah claimed that militia leaders from the so-called "axis of resistance" in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen had offered to send "tens of thousands" of fighters to help Hizbullah in its fight.

Some Iraqi "advisors" are in Lebanon already, Iran-backed militia officials in Baghdad told the Associated Press (AP).

"If the war continues for a long time, there may be intervention by the Houthis and Iraqi groups, and the influx of large numbers of fighters from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Lebanon and Syrian areas bordering Israel," Hizbullah affairs expert Qasim Kassir told the news agency.

Iranian officials and Tehran-backed militias claim that "thousands of fighters in the Middle East are ready to come to Lebanon to join Hizbullah in its battle with Israel if the conflict develops into an all-out war," AP reported June 23.

Meanwhile, Hizbullah's smuggling of fighters into Lebanon "has not stopped and is no longer a secret," military expert George Nader told Al-Fassel.

This activity is carried out through illegal crossings on the Lebanese-Syrian border, he said, "especially the highway linking the Lebanese Hermel region to the Syrian al-Qusayr region."

Hizbullah "not only exposes civilians and Lebanon to danger by smuggling weapons and fighters but also the economy," Nader said. "Hizbullah has put Lebanon in a precarious situation, and there is no one to stop it."

Influx of foreign fighters

Hizbullah brings in fighters and weapons through the Lebanese-Syrian border "because the border is open to it," activist and Hizbullah opponent Ahmed Yassin told Al-Fassel.

"Hizbullah's transportation unit, known as Unit 4400, is bringing in Iraqi, Afghan, Pakistani and Yemeni fighters, who will be attached to the support unit," he said.

The militia transports two types of Iranian weapons into Lebanon, he said.

One type is developed in Syria in laboratories affiliated with the Syrian regime's 4th Division, such as the Falaq and Burkan missiles, he said.

The other is precision missiles assembled from parts shipped directly from Iran overland and assembled in Lebanon, he said.

Hizbullah is exposing Lebanon and civilians to danger by smuggling fighters and weapons into the country, Yassin warned.