How much is Amal involved in Israel-Hezbollah border clashes?
Amal Movement is fighting "in front of Hezbollah" in south Lebanon, head of the movement and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said.
Amal has not announced any attack on Israel since the cross-border clashes began between Hezbollah and Israel on October, but its chief told al-Jadeed TV on Sunday that Amal is "resisting" in the south "within its military capabilities," which are far inferior to those of Hezbollah.
"Amal is ahead of Hezbollah in defending every grain of the Lebanese soil, but in this battle Amal is resisting within its military capabilities, as it does not possess Hezbollah’s capabilities," Berri said.
On Sunday, local media outlets reported for the first time attacks by Hezbollah's ally, Amal, but the group did not officially announce any attack.
- Casualties -
Since October 8, three Amal "fighters" have been announced dead. One on November 11 in an Israeli drone strike in the South, that wounded two others, and two in an Israeli airstrike Friday night in the southern border town of Blida.
During the fighters' funeral procession in Blida Sunday, Israeli artillery shelled near the procession as soldiers fired machine guns from the Bayad Blida post. The mourners nonetheless continued with the ceremony.
- Islamic Risala Scout Association -
Since Oct. 8, the Amal Movement-affiliated Islamic Risala Scout Association has been offering ambulance and paramedic services to the fighters and civilians injured or killed in Israeli strikes in the south.
An Israeli drone struck last week an ambulance for the Risala Scout Association in the border town of Blida, causing damage to the vehicle but no casualties.
In January, a civil defense center belonging to the Risala Scout association in Khiam was hit by a warplane missile that did not explode and thus caused no casualties.
On November 5, four Risala Scouts first responders were wounded when an Israeli strike hit two ambulances in the outskirts of the south Lebanon town of Tayr Harfa.
- Diplomatic role -
Berri said that Amal is also playing a diplomatic role. "Diplomacy is an essential part of the resistance," he said.
For Western countries that cannot publicly hold meetings with the terror-listed Hezbollah, including the United States, Berri became a main point of contact.
Famous for his quick wit and shrewd politicking, at 84, Berri is one of the world's longest serving legislative chiefs, having held his post for the past 30 years, a feat no other Lebanese politician has accomplished.
The tall, light-eyed politician is a close ally of the powerful Hezbollah. Together, the two parties hold all the 27 Shiite-allocated seats in parliament.
Over the past three decades, he has fashioned himself into a mediator among Lebanon's deeply divided political factions and their foreign patrons, sealing his reputation as the indispensable guardian of the status quo.
Source: Naharnet
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/303189 |