i24 News – Israeli forces uncovered a Hezbollah observation post near the Lebanese border that operated under cover of the Green Without Borders environmental organization.

The IDF’s spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted pictures of the site on Twitter saying that Hezbollah members were disguised as environmental activists. He added that the observation post violated UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

This is not the first case of Lebanon’s Shiite group Hezbollah using Green Without Borders as a cover. In October 2018, IDF identified another Hezbollah outpost near the Israeli border disguised as the same NGO while in 2017 five such positions used for Hezbollah’s intelligence and reconnaissance efforts were uncovered.

According to the IDF, the Lebanese civil organization Green Without Borders is partially funded by Hezbollah. However, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon that previously observed the NGO over a period of two years declared that no unauthorized armed people were found operating at its sites and thus no violation of the Security Council Resolution was detected.

Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli ministers issued a statement saying the country was prepared to defend the recently docked Energean gas rig following Hezbollah threats. The Lebanese government previously protested the docking of a gas rig at the Karish natural gas field, which is located in the disputed maritime area. Hezbollah threatened action, “including force,” against Israeli gas operations.

Source: Matzav