Hamas, the Gaza-based terror organization that attacked Israel on Oct. 7, butchering some 1,400 civilians with barbaric methods including beheading babies and burning whole families alive, now is creating a new terror group to attack Israel, according to a new report.
The report at the Gatestone Institute is from Khaled Abu Toameh, an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.
The report explains that just days ago, Hamas, backed by Iran, confirmed "the establishment of a new terrorist group in Lebanon with the goal of 'liberating Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.'"
Hamas terror members already have been lobbing rockets at Israeli civilians from Lebanon in recent weeks.
Now Hamas is insisting that Palestinians living in Lebanon join the "Vanguards of the Al-Aqsa Flood" which was the name it picked for its brutal and vicious invasion of Israeli communities near the border with the Gaza Strip on in October.
"Hamas, in short, is saying that it is planning a similar invasion of Israel, but this time from Lebanon," the report said.
The report pointed out that Lebanese residents are not particularly happy with Hamas' decision to expand its war against Israel, and they have offered criticism of the agenda.
"The Lebanese see how Hamas has brought devastation down on the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as a result of their attack on Israel. They fear the same consequence in Lebanon," the report said.
"This [Hamas] statement is unacceptable, neither in form nor in content. It harms Lebanese sovereignty and is again trying to harm the relationship between the Lebanese and Palestinians," charged Samir Geagea, chief of the Lebanese Forces Party.
He warned, too, that the Hamas decision to promote a new terror organization could not have happened "without the approval of Iran's Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah."
"It is well-established that Hamas and other organizations in Lebanon are subject to the command and decision of Hezbollah," he explained, in the report. "It is next to impossible for them to carry out any military action without the knowledge and approval of the party [Hezbollah]. There is no possibility for Hamas to issue such a statement had it not been for Hezbollah's actual signature on it."
Further, the former general director of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces, Ashraf Rifi, condemned the move as a mistake.
"Lebanon is not an arena for resistance [against Israel] or those who are deceived," Rifi said, advising Hamas to "Do not sink into the shifting Lebanese sands…"
Further criticism came from Lebanese politician Fouad Makhzoumi, who said Lebanon's government should "act immediately and take the necessary measures," as well as Lebanese journalist Tony Bouloss, who is it appears Hamas' plans are to push Lebanon into a civil war.
The report explained, "This is not the first time that the Lebanese people voice concern over plans Iran and its proxies to turn Lebanon into a launching pad for attacking Israel. Over decades, Hezbollah has accumulated approximately 150,000 rockets and missiles, many of them precision-guided, hidden among the homes of civilians along its 75 mile (120 km) border with Israel."
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