On Thursday, an Israeli businessman was indicted on charges that he was used by Iranian intelligence agents to assassinate senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, and carry out missions inside the country.
Israeli sources said that this case was not the only one, and was preceded by other attempts by Hezbollah to recruit Israelis.
Unit 133
According to the Israeli website Ynet, Hezbollah’s Unit 133 is tasked with recruiting elements in Israel, replacing Unit 1800, whose commander, Khalil Kharif, succeeded in recruiting Palestinians to carry out armed attacks.
Today, Unit 133 has taken on this mission, and has been given a broader scope of operation, not only in Israel, but all over the world, to carry out operations, most of which are in Europe.
According to reports, the unit works with a number of drug smugglers in Lebanon, to bring explosives into Israel and the West Bank.
Security officials also say there is a direct connection between Israeli crime gangs and the unit, which uses methods to lure Israelis with financial rewards and weapons supplies.
Months ago, he threw Shin Bet A 21-year-old Israeli man was arrested after he was paid to leave a headless doll outside a home in central Israel, among other things.
The Shin Bet has warned that Iranian agents have contacted Israeli citizens in recent months using fake profiles, and warned that responding to such methods could harm security. Israel.
Israeli security officials believe Hezbollah’s Unit 133 was behind the attempted assassination of former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon last year, using an explosive device planted on a daily jogging path in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park.
The Alma Center for Research and Education, which specializes in security challenges on Israel’s northern border, said that Unit 133’s mission is to “strengthen the terrorist infrastructure inside Israel through other means, using smuggling routes to bring in weapons for its operators in cooperation with outlaws in Lebanon.”
Investigators believe that Kharif remains heavily involved in the unit’s work and uses his connections with local criminals to further the unit’s goals.
He is also believed to be at the forefront of Hezbollah’s efforts to train militias in Iraq and Yemen.
