Egypt invites Hizballah delegation, recognizes Lebanese terrorist group

Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Abu Ghait met secretly with Hizballah leaders in Beirut last week, DEBKA file’s counter-terror sources report, and invited a delegation to pay a formal visit to Cairo. The pro-Iranian Hizballah is listed by the UN and many nations as a terrorist organization.
This is a stab in the back for Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert, defense minister Ehud Barak and his political adviser, Amos Gilead and their policy of heavy reliance on Egyptian mediation for holding down Hamas aggression from the Gaza Strip and securing the release of the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilead Shalit.
The invitation was tendered without referring to Israel or even informing Barak when he met Hosni Mubarak only last week in Alexandria. Later he declared the Gaza ceasefire Israel accepted had proved successful, clearly ignorant of the Egyptian ruler’s machinations behind Israel’s back.
Egypt has therefore empowered Hizballah with a role alongside Hamas in Gaza Strip affairs and thrown its own weight behind the most radical Palestinian camp versus Israel.
For Hizballah’s Hassan Nasrallah, who has declared all-out war on Israel, this is a major strategic boost. The leading Arab nation has recognized Hizballah’s leader as a legitimate force in and outside Lebanon, allowing him to go on flouting UN resolutions demanding the disbanding of his terrorist militia and acting as Iran’s proxy arm against Israel.
debkafile‘s military sources cite members of Israel’s high command as taking the view that Egypt’s acceptance of Hizballah ties in directly with the establishment of a Hamas-Jihad-Islami-Hizballah situation room in Gaza City and Beirut to run the war campaign against Israel, which was first revealed by debkafile on Sept. 1. To read that exclusive, click HERE