Jerusalem – Officials: Major Hizbullah Attack Against Israeli Target in Europe Foiled

Jerusalem – Israel’s intelligence agencies recently thwarted a major Hizbullah terror attack against an Israeli target in Europe, security officials revealed on Wednesday.

The attack was foiled by Israel in conjunction with a European intelligence agency. Hizbullah planned the attack to avenge the February 2008 assassination of arch-terrorist Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus.

Last week, Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered Israeli security services to raise their level of alert out of fear that Hizbullah will increase its efforts to launch an attack against an Israeli or Jewish target abroad ahead of the first anniversary of Mughniyeh’s assassination on February 12.

Mughniyeh was the commander of Hizbullah military forces and was assassinated on in a car bombing in Damascus. While Israel did not claim responsibility for the assassination, Hizbullah has declared its intention to avenge Mughniyeh’s death by striking at Israel.

The assessment in the Israeli intelligence community is that Hizbullah plans to attack an Israeli target overseas that will not have its direct fingerprints on. Hizbullah is believed to have extensive terror infrastructure in Africa and South America and was allegedly behind the bombings in 1992 and 1994 in Buenos Aires.

Hizbullah, the intelligence community believes, is deterred from launching an attack along the northern border out of fear of Israel’s potential response. The two recent Katyusha rocket attacks into northern Israel are believed to have been carried out by a Palestinian terror group, although under the direction of Hizbullah.