- October 10, 2024
- 3:30 pm
- Middle East
This was reported by the Israeli state news agency. CAN service, based on Lebanese sources.
“Apparently, Russia’s hidden support in the war against Israel is becoming increasingly noticeable”writes CAN.
Russia has transferred unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to the terrorist organization Hezbollah and is training militants in their use, the Lebanese newspaper A-Nahar reported today, citing intelligence sources.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, commenting on the situation, said:
“Despite massive strikes, including civilian casualties, we believe that Hezbollah has retained its functionality, including its military capabilities. The command structure continues to work.”
Russia's cooperation with the Houthis
Along with the transfer of UAVs to Hezbollah, two weeks ago Reuters reported that Russia was negotiating with Houthi rebels in Yemen over the supply of anti-ship missiles, brokered by Iran.
Negotiations with the Houthis began under Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, who died in a plane crash at the end of May this year. According to the agency, Russian representatives have met with the Houthis in Tehran twice over the past year to discuss the deal, and more meetings are expected.
Russia has not yet made a final decision on the transfer of missiles. We are talking about P-800 missiles with a range of up to 300 kilometers. Experts say they will increase the Houthi threat to commercial shipping in the Red Sea and create additional risks for American and European warships. According to Reuters, Russia previously supplied such missiles to Hezbollah.
In addition, last month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed that Russia and Iran are cooperating in the nuclear field. He added that Russia is supplying Iran with the technology it needs and recently received a shipment of ballistic missiles from Tehran that will likely be used in the war against Ukraine.
The Israeli government may respond to reports of Russian support for Hezbollah and the Houthi rebels as follows:
- Strengthening defense alliances: Israel can speed up strengthening ties with allies such as the US and European countries to coordinate on missile defense and intelligence issues to counter Russian and Iranian efforts to support terrorist groups.
- Increasing pressure on Russia through international organizations: Israel could more actively raise the issue of Russian support for terrorist organizations in the UN and other international forums, with the aim of condemning Russia for promoting destabilization in the region.
- Intensification of preventive measures: Given the threat from the transfer of drones to Hezbollah, Israel could strengthen its measures to prevent terrorist attacks, including more active operations against the logistics infrastructure of terrorist organizations in Lebanon and Syria.
