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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

The Iranians are at the borders

2017-07-18

[IsraelTimes] With its ascendancy in Syria, the Islamic Theocratic Republic is seeking to consolidate its position against Israel and the US. The number of fallen Hezbollah troops is estimated at 1,800 to 2,000. Approximately 6,000 Hezbollah troops have been maimed, all together one-third of its combat troops. Eleven years have gone by since the outbreak of the Second Leb War, which began with the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. It ended 34 days later with a trumpet blast from Hezbollah, which had lost approximately 700 of its troops. But those losses were a small thing in light of the deaths of 164 Israelis, which constituted part of "the God-given victory" -- at least according to the enormous billboards that were placed throughout Leb to establish the narrative that many people there, and throughout the Middle East, believed.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hezbollah planned to assassinate Olmert, Arab report claims

2015-02-12

[IsraelTimes] Busted spy Muhammad Shorba foiled plot to avenge killing of Imad Mughniyeh as well as plan to attack embassy in Azerbaijan, reports al-Araby al-Jadid So many plots, so few results! One would feel for the Hizb'allah leadership, one really would, were it not that they were so busily evil. Mr. Shorba must have been very pleased with what he accomplished before they caught him. ِAn Israeli collaborator within the ranks of Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah thwarted the organization's plan to assassinate former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and attack the Israeli embassy in Azerbaijan in 2009, a London-based Arab daily reported on Wednesday. Al-Araby Al-Jadid quoted a Lebanese political source as saying that Muhammad Shorba, locked away Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! by Hezbollah late last year, was appointed by Hezbollah to avenge the liquidation of Hezbollah leader Imad Mughniyeh in February 2008 by striking Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe and Latin America. As prime minister, Olmert launched the Second Leb War in August 2006 following Hezbollah's cross-border kidnapping of Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, and was also reportedly involved in Mughniyeh's liquidation. The daily did not provide any details on when or how Olmert's liquidation was to take place. The liquidation of Mughniyeh was considered a major blow to Hezbollah, which vowed at the time to avenge the death. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged Shorba's arrest in an interview with Lebanese TV station Al-Mayadeen in January, saying he had fallen under suspicion five months earlier and admitted to collaborating with Israel following his arrest. Shorba worked as a traveling businessman and was recruited by the Mossad in a "western Asian country," according to a December report in Lebanese daily El-Nashra. He also reportedly exposed several Hezbollah agents, including Mohammed Amadar, arrested in Peru in late October with TNT and detonators following a Mossad tip-off; Hossam Yaacoub, convicted in Cyprus for planning attacks against Israeli tourists in March 2013; and Daoud Farhat and Youssef Ayad, arrested in April 2014 in Bangkok for planning terror attacks against Israeli tourists in Thailand. Omri Nir, an expert on Lebanese politics at Jerusalem's Hebrew University said that given Hezbollah's past attempts to gather intelligence on Israeli officials, the report in Al-Araby Al-Jadid was not out of the question. In August 2009, 23-year-old Rawi Sultani of Tirah was indicted for spying on then-IDF chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi at the gym. "It certainly sounds plausible," Nir told The Times of Israel. "I imagine that just like any state, they collect intelligence so that one day when the operational opportunity arises they can claim it was done to avenge Mughniyeh." The fact that Hezbollah did not hand Shorba over to Lebanese security but insists on interrogating him itself, as well as his mention in Nasrallah's interview, indicated that he is likely "a big fish," Nir added. Israel significantly stepped up its intelligence gathering in Leb following the 2006 Second Leb War, when it exhausted its target bank within days due to lack of quality information on Hezbollah, he said. "Hezbollah knows this, and is stressed. Every few months Lebanese media reports on [Israeli] surveillance devices, cameras along the border, or spy planes," Nir noted. The liquidation of Hezbollah commander Hassan al-Lakis in Beirut in December 2013 would not have been possible without inside involvement, he added. A report in the Daily Beast last month revealed that Mughniyeh's liquidation was carried out as a joint operation between Israeli and American security agents. Jerusalem and Washington have not officially grabbed credit for the killing.

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Iraq

Hezbollah Chief Who Helped Capture IDF Soldiers Goldwasser, Regev Killed In Iraq

2014-08-01

Spreading themselves ever thinner... So much for Iran's multi-front war against Israel once they had their working nukes. Perhaps they aren't Allah's favourites after all. [IsraelTimes] A commander with the Lebanese Death Eater group Hezbollah who took part in the raid in which Israeli reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were killed and captured was recently killed while on a "jihadi mission" in Iraq, officials in Leb said Thursday. The officials, who are close to the Shi'ite Hezbollah, said that Ibrahim Mohammed al-Haj was killed sometime in the past week. They did not provide any details on his mission or circumstances of his death and spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to media. It was the first known Hezbollah death in Iraq since Sunni forces of Evil with the Islamic State captured large parts of the country north and west of Baghdad in June. In July 2006, al-Haj was among a group of Hezbollah fighters who crossed into Israel and captured Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev before bringing them into Leb, Lebanese security officials told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named. They spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. The capture triggered the 34-day Second Leb War between Israel and Hezbollah. Iraqi officials have said that a handful of advisers from Hezbollah are offering front-line guidance to Iraqi Shiite militias fighting the Sunni forces of Evil north of Baghdad. But it is not known if — beyond the advisers — any Hezbollah fighters are fighting along Iraqi Shiite militiamen. Last year, Hezbollah fighters openly joined Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... 's forces in a decision that has fueled sectarian tensions in Leb. On Thursday, Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV aired footage of al-Haj's funeral that was held in the Lebanese eastern town of Mashghara on Wednesday. The funeral was attended by top Hezbollah officials, including the head of the group's parliamentary bloc Mohammed Raad and Minister of Industry Hussein Haj Hassan. Al-Manar referred to al-Haj as "commander," saying he died while "performing his jihadi duties" — a term used by the group when its members are killed in action. Al-Haj's coffin, draped in the group's yellow flag, was carried by Hezbollah fighters in uniform who walked on a red carpet as a band played music. Al-Manar said al-Haj's achievements on the battlefield had "pained the enemy," referring to Israel. He was the second Hezbollah commander to be killed in recent months. In May, Fawzi Ayoub, a Hezbollah military commander wanted by the FBI was killed in Syria while fighting alongside Assad's forces.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Report: Mossad Assassinated Samir Kuntar's Right Hand Man

2014-07-06

[Ynet] Lebanese paper Al Akhbar reports Mwafaq Badiyeh was killed by explosive planted on his car by Israeli agents; Syrian opposition says he died in battle against rebels. Three weeks ago, Mwafaq Badiyeh, Samir Kuntar's "right hand man," was killed when his car went kaboom!. Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar, that is affiliated with Hezbollah and the Assad regime, quoted officials on Saturday who claimed it was "Mossad agents" who assassinated Badiyeh. Syrian opposition, however, said Badiyeh was killed in battles against rebels. According to the report, Badiyeh was assassinated on June 17 when his car went kaboom! in the Durin area, while driving on the main road between Quneitra and Damascus. "Security sources" told the paper that Badiyeh's car's kaboom was caused by an bomb planted on his car by "Mossad agents." These sources claim the liquidation was a response to rockets fired from Syria to Israel in March, that the Syrian army and Hezbollah were responsible for. Local sources told Al Akhbar that Badiyeh, of Druze descent, was a part of the military presence in the Quneitra district that was operating against Israeli targets in the Golan. Syrian opposition websites characterized Badiyeh as the right hand man of Samir Kuntar, the terrorist who murdered four Israelis in a 1979 attack in Nahariya, among them the Haran family. Kuntar was freed from Israeli jail in a deal signed with Hezbollah in 2008 to retrieve the bodies of IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. The village of Hadar, where Badiyeh was born and resided until his death, is one of the only villages in the Syrian Golan Heights that remains loyal to Bashir al-Assad's regime, apart from Quneitra. Semi-military militias loyal to the Syrian president operate in this area. These militias also have ties with Hezbollah.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Hezbollah Video Shows Preparations For 2006 Kidnapping Of Two IDF Soldiers

2013-07-22

[Jpost] Video shows Hezbollah commander who led the operation which resulted in the kidnapping of Goldwasser and Regev. Desperate to remind Lebanese that Hizb'allah is their "resistance" against the Juices, now that everyone's mad they're fighting for Assad in Syria. Video at link. Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV revealed details of the kidnapping of two IDF soldiers, which led to the 2006 Leb war. The video shows what appears to be Hezbollah forces preparing for the mission in the same place where the 2006 kidnapping took place. Khalid Bazzi, also known as Hajj Qasim, led the operation for Hezbollah and is shown on the video to be involved in the planning of the attack in -- what the program claims -- is the site from where the attack was actually launched. He is shown standing up high in the tree observing the site of where the attack would take place, while another soldier is on the ground under him. The video also showed live video of the attack with Hezbollah faceless myrmidons jumping out from trees and bushes to attack an approaching IDF vehicle. The footage of the attack appears to be from previously released material. Bazzi was killed by an Israeli air strike during the war. On July 12, 2006, Hezbollah bully boyz attacked a group of Israeli soldiers in Israeli territory, killing eight and kidnapping IDF reservists Eldad Regev and Udi Goldwasser. Israel responded by attacking Hezbollah and other targets in Leb, and Hezbollah responded by firing numerous Katyusha rockets at Israeli population centers for more than 100 days. The bodies of the two IDF soldiers were returned to Israel in an exchange in 2008 for Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar. An article on Al-Manar's website from earlier this month stated that during the 2006 war "the Zionist entity used all its power to destroy Hezbollah, but failed in achieving the least of its goals." Israel then "pulled out defeated" and today, Hezbollah is much stronger than it was in the summer of 2006, according to the article. The article also quotes media reports noting the recent decision by the IDF to reduce and restructure its forces.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hezbollah's Latest Muscle-Flexing Sign Of Stress, Not Strength

2012-11-03

[Times of Israel] The recent flurry of activity from Hezbollah is a sign of stress, not strength, and Israel should be all the more wary Hezbollah has been flexing its muscles of late, sending a drone into Israel and establishing a surveillance and telecommunication system along the border. But both of these deeds should be seen as acts of distress rather than signs of strength. For the Shiite organization, the situation today, with Sunni Islam ascendant and Bashir al-Assad stripped of legitimacy and losing power, is reminiscent of the period in the run-up to the 2006 Second Leb War, when Hezbollah was desperate for an achievement in the aftermath of the Cedar Revolution of early 2005. The revolution broke out immediately after the Lebanese Sunni Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri was murdered in February 2005, and it left Hezbollah on the ropes. A UN investigation into the murder had been launched, and would later indict four senior Hezbollah operatives for the liquidation. Syrian troops, the longstanding backers of Hezbollah, had been ousted from Leb after 29 years of occupation. And a growing chorus of voices was calling for the disarming of the world's most powerful militia. Druze, Christians and Sunni Mohammedans all reasoned that with both Israel and Syria gone from Lebanese soil there was no need for the existence of a private Shiite army in the south of the state. Even some of the Shiite population was drifting toward the rival Amal party. Hezbollah is a sophisticated entity. It operates on many levels. But one ploy that always seems to work is to goad Israel into a confrontation. On November 22, 2005, Hezbollah sent several elite squads into Mghar, a village that lies partially in Israel and partially in Leb. The forward squads carried anti-tank rockets and other infantry gear. The rear squad was armed with high-powered off-road cycle of violences and ATVs. The goal of the mission was to ambush Israeli troops and kidnap a soldier. The head of army intelligence at the time, Maj. Gen. Aharon Zeevi-Farkash, contacted the OC Northern Command the day before the attack and warned him of the brewing plans, according to Ofer Shelah and Yoav Limor's 2007 book "Captives of Leb." Perhaps word was passed down. At any rate, the local Paratroops company commander changed the positioning of his troops the next night, and when the Hezbollah gunnies arrived, a young sniper, only eight months into his army service, picked off the four members of the forward squad and thwarted the plan. Zeevi-Farkash was not complacent, however. He wrote to then prime minister Ariel Sharon, that the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, "is willing to go all the way." The prevailing notion in military intelligence at the time, Shelah and Limor wrote, was that Hezbollah was "under duress" and that it needed to portray itself once again as the defender of Leb. But that December, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, the Chief of the General Staff, dismissed this notion during a General Staff meeting, much to Zeevi-Farkash's chagrin, the authors wrote. And the following July, apparently far better prepared, Hezbollah achieved its goal -- killing eight soldiers and kidnapping two more, Eldad Regev and Udi Goldwasser, who subsequently died, in a cross-border raid. Israel had many options. Prime minister Ehud Olmert could have responded with a limited but painful strike, such as the one the IAF carried out on the first night of the war, when, as part of Operation Mishgal Seguli, it eliminated the majority of Hezbollah's medium- and long-range rockets. Instead, on the morning of July 13, Halutz announced that the war would take "take weeks." Here is not the space to debate the outcome of the war. But one thing is certain: in its wake Hezbollah's political power rose within Leb. In 2008, as a result of the Doha Agreement, it achieved an effective veto in Leb's government, controlling 11 out of 30 cabinet seats. Today, again, Hezbollah is feeling discontent swirling all around it. Egypt and Turkey are controlled by religious Sunni governments; Jordan may be moving in the same direction; Syria is assuredly being wrested from Allawite hands and will likely be dominated by some sort of Sunni-led coalition; and in Leb the Sunni minority is feeling energized and itching to settle past scores. Jerusalem would do well to consider these factors if, after the drone and the new surveillance equipment, Hezbollah's next act is more provocative.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Lebanese targets fair game in war with Hezbollah

2012-04-12

Defense officials: It was a mistake not to have made this clear during the Second Leb War in 2006. Israel will attack Lebanese government targets during a future war with Hezbullies, senior defense officials said amid speculation that a war could erupt in the North following a future strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. "It was a mistake not to attack Lebanese government targets during the [Second Leb] War in 2006," a senior defense official explained. "We will not be able to hold back from doing so in a future war." After the outbreak of the 2006 war, the official said, the US asked Israel to refrain from bombing Lebanese government targets so as not to weaken the prime minister at the time, Fuad Siniora, who was aligned with the West. Israel complied and restricted its bombings to Hezbullies targets. "This will not be the same in the future, particularly now that Hezbullies and the government are effectively one and the same," the official said. In general, the IDF has significantly boosted its "target bank" since the 2006 war. Today's bank is said to contain thousands of Hezbullies targets, compared to the approximately 200 that the IDF had on July 12, 2006, when Hezbullies kidnapped reservists Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. Hezbullies is believed to have amassed over 50,000 rockets and missiles, and most of the weaponry is thought to be stored in some 100 villages throughout southern Leb. The new thinking regarding bombing government institutions is part of a revised IDF strategy on how to damage Hezbullies and facilitate a faster end to a war than the 34 days it took in 2006. The guerrilla group, which embeds its military capabilities within civilian infrastructure, does not have a clear power base, which if destroyed could help end such a war. Talk of the possible bombing of Lebanese government targets comes as Israel prepares for a possible war with Hezbullies that could result from either an Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear facilities or a preemptive strike to stop the transfer of sophisticated weaponry from Syria to Leb. Western countries have prepared various contingency plans for such a scenario, including the possible bombing of a convoy if it were detected, as well as the possible insertion of commando forces to secure the chemical stockpile if and when Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... falls.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Analysis: Schalit and the Arab Spring

2011-10-12

The Arab Spring is behind Israel's change of heart on the Gilad Schalit deal, which has not changed dramatically since 2006. The deal to release Gilad Schalit is without a doubt controversial. The main change, though, took place on the Israeli side, which in recent months changed its position on the deal that has retained mostly the same format since Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, kidnapped Schalit in June, 2006. The big question is what brought about this change. The main answer is the so-called Arab Spring.  Israel is concerned that the Arab regimes now in power will not be here tomorrow and that the Egyptian regime currently in power - the deal's main mediator - will not be there in a few months after elections are held in Cairo. Israel is genuinely concerned about the outcome of elections in Egypt, expected to be held sometime next year. Predictions are that the elections will see the rise of a more anti-Israel regime to power, particularly if the Moslem Brüderbund wins a significant percentage of the seats in parliament. These changes were also internalized by Hamas, which understood that fallout between Israel and Egypt would also impact its ability to reach a deal with Israel. This led Hamas to take a more pragmatic approach, moving it to change its own position on some of the names on the list of faceless myrmidons set to be released. A significant number of the faceless myrmidons will be deported to the Gazoo Strip. While this will be a boost to Hamas and other terrorist organizations there, it will have less of an effect on Israel than if they were to be released to the West Bank. There, they would be able to help Hamas and Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Mohammedan Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the liquidation of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... reestablish their terror infrastructure, which has been severely damaged in recent years by the IDF and Paleostinian Authority security forces. Egypt also successfully used as leverage the ongoing revolution in Syria and Hamas's fears that it will have to evacuate its headquarters in Damascus ...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti... if Bashir al-Assad falls. The change at the top of Israel's various defense agencies also played a role. Yoram Cohen, who was appointed head of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) in March, is said to have been more flexible than his predecessor Yuval Diskin. The same is said about Tamir Pardo who replaced Meir Dagan as head of the Mossad. In the IDF, the position has always been the same - to pay the price and release Schalit. In the cabinet meeting in 2008 that debated the swap for Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser - the reservists kidnapped by Hezbullies in 2006 - then-Chief of General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi used all of his influence to push the deal through, raising the ire of then-head of the National Security Council Uzi Arad. His successor Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz shares the same view. While Schalit's release is without a doubt dramatic, so is the day after. Hamas will be strengthened by this deal, will have brought about the release of 1,000 prisoners and will be able to use this as leverage in future reconciliation talks with Fatah, as well as in gaining popularity ahead of Paleostinian Authority elections, if they are ever held. Israel will need to work to ensure that PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... does not view this as a blow and will still be willing to renew negotiations with Israel. The boost to Hamas will not just be for its morale but also for its operational abilities. Kidnappings, Hamas and Hezbullies have learned, pay off. They will likely try again.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Published 01:24 21.04.11 Latest update 01:24 21.04.11 Israel alerted to several Hamas,

2011-04-21

Multiple warnings received by Israeli security agencies indicate that Arab terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah will attempt to abduct Israelis vacationing in the Mediterranean region. The warnings prompted the Counter-Terrorism Bureau, a government body, to issue a travel alert on April 10, before the Passover holiday. Thousands of Israelis travel abroad during Passover every year, including more than 3,000 who flew to Turkey or Greece a few days before the holiday began and some 25,000 tourists who were expected to head into Egypt at the Taba border crossing. Terror groups are motivated to abduct Israelis by the prospect of securing the release of hundreds of prisoners in a swap with Israel, an appetite that has been whetted by previous abductions - including that of captive soldier Gilad Shalit, who Hamas has held in Gaza since 2006; and of reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, whose remains were returned to Israel as part of a 2008 swap with Hezbollah that resulted in the release of hundreds of Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners. Hezbollah is also interested in exacting revenge for the February 2008 assassination of senior official Imad Mughniyeh, which the Shi'ite Muslim organization attributes to Israel. Since his assassination, Hezbollah has made approximately 10 attempts to carry out a revenge attack on Israeli targets abroad, but failed in its efforts to abduct Israelis and to set off car bombs near the Israeli embassy in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israel alerted to several Hamas, Hezbollah kidnap plots abroad

2011-04-21

Multiple warnings received by Israeli security agencies indicate that Arab terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah will attempt to abduct Israelis vacationing in the Mediterranean region. The warnings prompted the Counter-Terrorism Bureau, a government body, to issue a travel alert on April 10, before the Passover holiday. Thousands of Israelis travel abroad during Passover every year, including more than 3,000 who flew to Turkey or Greece a few days before the holiday began and some 25,000 tourists who were expected to head into Egypt at the Taba border crossing. Terror groups are motivated to abduct Israelis by the prospect of securing the release of hundreds of prisoners in a swap with Israel, an appetite that has been whetted by previous abductions - including that of captive soldier Gilad Shalit, who Hamas has held in Gaza since 2006; and of reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, whose remains were returned to Israel as part of a 2008 swap with Hezbollah that resulted in the release of hundreds of Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners. Hezbollah is also interested in exacting revenge for the February 2008 assassination of senior official Imad Mughniyeh, which the Shi'ite Muslim organization attributes to Israel. Since his assassination, Hezbollah has made approximately 10 attempts to carry out a revenge attack on Israeli targets abroad, but failed in its efforts to abduct Israelis and to set off car bombs near the Israeli embassy in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Published 01:24 21.04.11 Latest update 01:24 21.04.11 Israel alerted to several Hamas,

2011-04-21

Multiple warnings received by Israeli security agencies indicate that Arab terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah will attempt to abduct Israelis vacationing in the Mediterranean region. The warnings prompted the Counter-Terrorism Bureau, a government body, to issue a travel alert on April 10, before the Passover holiday. Thousands of Israelis travel abroad during Passover every year, including more than 3,000 who flew to Turkey or Greece a few days before the holiday began and some 25,000 tourists who were expected to head into Egypt at the Taba border crossing. Terror groups are motivated to abduct Israelis by the prospect of securing the release of hundreds of prisoners in a swap with Israel, an appetite that has been whetted by previous abductions - including that of captive soldier Gilad Shalit, who Hamas has held in Gaza since 2006; and of reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, whose remains were returned to Israel as part of a 2008 swap with Hezbollah that resulted in the release of hundreds of Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners. Hezbollah is also interested in exacting revenge for the February 2008 assassination of senior official Imad Mughniyeh, which the Shi'ite Muslim organization attributes to Israel. Since his assassination, Hezbollah has made approximately 10 attempts to carry out a revenge attack on Israeli targets abroad, but failed in its efforts to abduct Israelis and to set off car bombs near the Israeli embassy in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israel alerted to several Hamas, Hezbollah kidnap plots

2011-04-21

Multiple warnings received by Israeli security agencies indicate that Arab terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah will attempt to abduct Israelis vacationing in the Mediterranean region. The warnings prompted the Counter-Terrorism Bureau, a government body, to issue a travel alert on April 10, before the Passover holiday. Thousands of Israelis travel abroad during Passover every year, including more than 3,000 who flew to Turkey or Greece a few days before the holiday began and some 25,000 tourists who were expected to head into Egypt at the Taba border crossing. Terror groups are motivated to abduct Israelis by the prospect of securing the release of hundreds of prisoners in a swap with Israel, an appetite that has been whetted by previous abductions - including that of captive soldier Gilad Shalit, who Hamas has held in Gaza since 2006; and of reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, whose remains were returned to Israel as part of a 2008 swap with Hezbollah that resulted in the release of hundreds of Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners. Hezbollah is also interested in exacting revenge for the February 2008 assassination of senior official Imad Mughniyeh, which the Shi'ite Muslim organization attributes to Israel. Since his assassination, Hezbollah has made approximately 10 attempts to carry out a revenge attack on Israeli targets abroad, but failed in its efforts to abduct Israelis and to set off car bombs near the Israeli embassy in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.

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