KIRYAT SHMONA, Israel – U.S. taxpayer dollars may be inadvertently supporting Hezbollah through aid to Lebanon and the United Nations.
On Israel’s volatile northern border, the consequences of this complex situation are playing out daily.
As Hezbollah continues its barrage of attacks on Israel, a troubling connection has emerged between U.S. aid to Lebanon and the terrorist group’s operations.
Israel Defense Forces Res. Major Shadi Khaloul told CBN News, “By supporting the Lebanese Army, you are supporting, in the U.S., Hezbollah.”
The United States provides approximately $300 million annually to the Lebanese Army, ostensibly to help keep the peace. However, the lines between the official military and the terror group are increasingly blurred.
“(The) Lebanese army contains 50 percent of Shia (Muslim) fighters or soldiers. And those Shia soldiers, their cousins are in Hezbollah. And their brothers are serving in Hezbollah as terror fighters or terrorists.”
We visited a kibbutz on the Lebanese border in the Israeli town of Malkiya. A village called Blida is just a quarter mile away on a nearby hillside. It’s in Lebanon, and it’s one of the places where Hezbollah is daily firing missiles, rockets, and drones at Israel.
Malkiya resident Eitan Oren told us, “We are holding a gun to protect ourselves
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