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        Information Division, Israel Foreign Ministry - Jerusalem
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                                                             February 1997

        INFORMATION ON HIZBULLAH INCLUDING SOME RELEVANT STATEMENTS
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A. Statements by Secretary-General of Hizbullah.

"The Struggle is over the Occupied Territory of `Palestine,' the Golan and
South Lebanon"

At a ceremony organized by Hizbullah for "Jerusalem Day" (Feb. 7), the
organization's secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, called on all Arabs
and Moslems to proclaim that Jerusalem is Arab-Islamic land and not the
capital of Israel, nor even the joint capital of two countries as the
Chairman of the "Palestine Authority," Arafat, claims. Nasrallah called on
the Palestinian people to renew the intifada and act to eliminate Arafat,
as Sadat had been eliminated, and he promised that the fighters of his
organization are standing by the Palestinians and will not abandon them.
He added that Hizbullah regards "Jerusalem Day" as a symbol of the
struggle for the entire honored territory of "Palestine."

B. "Jerusalem Day" events conducted by Hizbullah on Feb. 7

Calls to destroy Israel.

A report by Radio Nur (Feb. 7) in Lebanon to participants in
demonstrations and parades organized by Hizbullah for "Jerusalem Day,"
said: "... The Jihad units are trampling on the American and Israeli flags
and the fighters are parading. The special units have set up a model of
Jerusalem, with the Hizbullah and Islamic flags over it. Heading the
ceremony on the main dais is Ali Abbas. Jihad units appear in green and
black clothing -- the suicide platoons named after the martyr Abbas
Mussawi are now marching past... The suicide companies are passing as we
hear calls to destroy Israel... The unit named after the martyrs Fat'hi
Sh'kaki and Yiyhe Ayyash, belonging to the Jerusalem Brigade, are passing
now. The company of the martyrs of the suicide attacks at Marj'ayoun is
marching by..."

C. A member of the Hizbullah Political Council describes the scope of the
struggle.

A member of Hizbullah's Political Council, the former member of parliament
Ali Tah, gave a lecture on "The Unity of the Monotheistic Religions"
(Voice of Islam Radio, Jan. 26). He said, "We do not oppose the Jews, but
are against Jewish racism and Jewish Zionism. I call on all believers in
monotheistic religions to join the `Resistance' because the struggle is
everyone's. According to the strategy of the `Resistance,' the existence
of the racist `Zionist entity' must be annulled, as [Iranian Ayatollah]
Khomeini and [Iranian spiritual leader] Ali Khamenhei said." Ali Tah added
that the struggle now being waged by the "Resistance" against the Jews and
Zionists is one of existence, and not as some of them claim a struggle
over borders.

D. A call to physically eliminate the Palestinian leadership.

The Hizbullah secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, said at the central
ceremony for "Jerusalem Day" (Radio Nur, Feb. 7): "Last year, we said at
this place that we believe in the Palestinian people and its spirit of
Jihad, and a short while after that there occurred the wonderful actions
by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv." Nasrallah
called on the Palestinian people on that occasion to overthrow its
leadership and execute them. He said that what is needed now is a
Palestinian Khaled Islanbuli [Sadat's assassin] in order that those who
betrayed Palestine and Jerusalem should pay a heavy price. Nasrallah
called on the Palestinian people to escalate the Jihad and renew the
intifada.

E. Iranian assistance via Damascus.

According to the "Intelligence Newsletter" (published in France, edition
of Jan. 16), each month between three and five shipments of weapons for
Hizbullah are flown into Damascus by Iranian cargo planes. The military
supplies include Sagger missiles, long-range Katyusha rockets, very
powerful anti-tank mines, and night-vision sights for rifles. According to
the publication, the "Supreme Iranian Council for National Security"
(which is the senior political and military body in Iran) decided to
substantially increase the financial and military aid it gives to
Hizbullah, from $80-million in 1996 to $100-million in 1997. According to
this report, the Hizbullah secretary-general took part in meetings of the
council at the beginning of December 1996, following the decision in April
1996 to increase the aid to Hizbullah, after the "Grapes of Wrath" action
in South Lebanon. Hizbullah sources say a special runway was prepared at
Damascus airport to deal with the increased Iranian military shipments.

F. Hizbullah fighters are assigned to join Syrian fighters and residents
of the Bek'aa Valley.

In a "Newsweek" survey (Feb. 3), military commentators claimed the Bek'aa
Valley is the ideal area for Israel to sever Lebanon from Syria. It
appears that in order to ensure this will not happen, Syria lately
relocated tanks and artillery to the valley, to reinforce the units
deployed there, which are estimated to number about 20,000 men. The
Hizbullah organization has cautiously deployed its fighters and stores of
weapons and its safe houses among units of Syrian soldiers and Bek'aa
residents. By reorganizing and re-distributing units of 10 men and placing
them in populated areas, the guerilla fighters have so far prevented
Israel from carrying out air bombardments against them. Nevertheless, the
guerilla fighters say that a wide-scale Israeli attack is exactly what
they want: Hizbullah would like nothing better than to provoke the
Israelis into violating the [ceasefire] agreement.

G. Syrian-Iranian coordination in connection with Hizbullah activity.

A political source in Teheran told "Al-Hayat" (Jan. 21) that the recent
visit of Syrian Vice-President Khaddam to Iran had brought about an
agreement regarding the viewpoints of the two countries vis-a-vis the
situation of Hizbullah in Lebanon and its political and military future.
The source said that Khaddam emphasized that Hizbullah would not disarm as
long as the Israeli occupation in Lebanon continues. His words came in
response to a claim by Iranian President Rafsanjani that he had heard from
the Russian foreign Minister that Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri had
promised, when he visited the U.S. in December 1996, that Hizbullah would
be disarmed. Khaddam stressed Syria's stand which contends that the
struggle is a legitimate right as long as Israel occupies Lebanese land.
At the same time, Khaddam clarified (according to the source) that
Hizbullah's weapons would be laid down when the occupation is over, and
Hizbullah will enjoy the status of a political party friendly to Syria.