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Hezbollah forces retreat from Israel’s border following US demand

Hezbollah forces reportedly began evacuating their positions near the Syrian Golan Heights, along the Israeli border.

Forces in the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror organization have begun to evacuate their positions near Syria’s Golan region along the Israeli border, according to Syrian news agency Al-Ittihad.

The retreat followed a demand from the US State Department that Hezbollah leave the area immediately.

US State Department spokesman Mark Toner on Tuesday demanded that Hezbollah cease “military operations in Syria in support of the [Syrian] regime.”

“Hezbollah forces have helped the Syrian [regime] implement its brutality against its own people and also caused instability in Lebanon,” the spokesman added.

“According to a number of sources who talked to the Syrian publication, at least 300 Hezbollah fighters have abandoned 14 positions in the Quneitra area, which sits in near proximity to Israel’s Golan territory,” Maariv Online reported. They retreated in the direction of Damascus, taking with them their tanks, armored vehicles and heavy weapons.

Israel itself has been occupied with the presence of Hezbollah in Syria, interrupting weapons shipments from its proxy, Iran, when possible.

“When we identify attempts to transfer advanced weapons to Hezbollah and we have intelligence and it is operationally possible, we will act to stop it,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month. “That’s how it was yesterday and that’s how we shall continue to act.”

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Israeli security forces also contend with Hezbollah efforts to infiltrate Palestinian society.

A Palestinian operating on behalf of Hezbollah who planned attacks in Israel was arrested by the Shin Bet (Israel’s Security Agency) in March.

The terrorist, Yusef Yasser Sweilam, 23 of Kalkilya, had been instructed by Hezbollah to advance terrorist attacks, including the abduction of Israelis.

Sweilam, a metal worker by trade, told the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) that he had been recruited by Hezbollah through a Facebook profile that serves as a platform to recruit members.

By: World Israel News Staff
With files from The Jerusalem Post