Hezbollah’s network for acquiring materials to produce drones to attack Israel spans across multiple European countries, French daily Le Figaro reported last week.
Starting in October 2023, the Iran-backed, Lebanon-based terror group carried out hundreds of drone attacks against the Jewish State, with reports from mid-October suggesting it had some 2,000 drones in its arsenal.
According to Le Figaro, three Lebanese individuals arrested in July of 2024 were suspected of buying such materials via Spanish companies they owned.
The components bought in Catalonia, which included electronic guidance systems, propulsion propellers, and hundreds of electric engines, sufficed to make drones capable of transporting several kilos of explosives, the report noted.
Catalonia resident Firas A.H. was suspected of buying “Materials that could be converted into weapons of war that could be used against civilian and military targets in Israel and Europe,” the French daily cited the Spanish authorities as saying.
However, according to a French source, the network had no intentions of carrying out terror attacks in Europe.
According to Le Figaro, citing Spanish authorities, the network intended “To imminently proceed with the shipment by sea to Lebanon of a massive quantity of essential components for the construction of unmanned aircraft, with the resulting risk to collective security and, in particular, to the safety of Israeli citizens.”
In Germany, too, security forces operating in July of last year arrested a suspect, Fadel Z., over his Hezbollah membership.
Operations against the network
Most recent crackdowns against the network were carried out in France, the UK, and Spain in early April.
In Spain, the additional operation saw the arrest of three more suspects.
The French General Directorate for Internal Security arrested a suspect who was being investigated over criminal terrorist conspiracy with the aim of preparing acts of terrorism. Concurrently, the UK Metropolitan Police announced it had arrested two suspected Hezbollah members in London over their membership with the terror group and involvement in preparing terrorist attacks.
Seth J. Frantzman and Michael Starr contributed to this report.
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