The Israeli military said it recovered internal Hamas documents in the Gaza Strip that suggest that Hezbollah allowed the Palestinian terror group to establish positions inside Lebanese territory without official state approval and with Iranian coordination.
Both Hamas and Hezbollah are U.S.-designated terror organizations backed by the Islamic Republic.
Lt. Col. Ella Waweya, a spokeswoman for the Arabic media division of the Israeli military, said the documents detail meetings between top Hamas and Hezbollah officials, including a Quds Force commander, to approve joint military projects.
The reports suggest that Hezbollah agreed to store and transport weapons for Hamas, provide financial support and help build up its forces and rocket capabilities in Lebanon.
According to the IDF, the documents show that Hezbollah operates in southern Lebanon as “a state within a state,” compromising Lebanese sovereignty in service of Iranian interests.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi said on Tuesday that he revoked the approval of Iran’s designated ambassador to Lebanon and ordered him to leave the country within five days.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar stated that it was a “justified and necessary step against the state responsible for violating Lebanon’s sovereignty, for its indirect occupation through Hezbollah and for dragging it into war.”
“We call on the Lebanese government to take practical and meaningful measures against Hezbollah, whose representatives still serve as ministers within it,” Sa’ar said.
Raggi stated earlier that he instructed the ministry’s secretary-general to summon Iran’s envoy in Beirut to convey the decision.
Mohammad Reza Shibani, who was nominated to be Tehran’s ambassador, was declared persona non grata. He must depart Lebanon by March 29, according to Raggi.
