Lebanon’s Hezbollah group warned on Thursday that Israeli claims about detecting movements by its members near the Qaraoun Dam in western Bekaa could be a pretext for targeting the dam or its surroundings.
The warning came in response to an earlier statement by the Israeli military, which claimed it had detected Hezbollah members near the area of the dam.
In a statement, Hezbollah said: “We warn that these fabricated allegations and pretexts could be paving the way for a new Israeli attack targeting the Qaraoun Dam or its surroundings, or targeting civilian and vital facilities in Lebanon.”
The group added: “We place these threats before the international community and human rights and humanitarian organisations, which are now required to break their silence over the repeated Israeli attacks on Lebanon and its infrastructure.”
Hezbollah said Israel’s claims of concern for Lebanon’s infrastructure and its water, agricultural and electricity resources “will deceive no one”.
It added that attempts to blame the resistance for crises caused by “the occupation itself and its ongoing aggression with open and direct US support”, and efforts to portray the resistance as acting against Lebanon’s national interest, were aimed at “incitement and stirring internal strife among the Lebanese”.
The group also called on the Lebanese state to “sound the alarm instead of remaining a bystander”, urging immediate diplomatic, legal and media action, including filing an urgent complaint with international bodies.
Last Tuesday, Israeli warplanes carried out an air strike near the Qaraoun Dam, causing rocks to fall into the lake because of the force of the blast, but no direct damage was reported to the dam or its facilities.
