Hezbollah Blamed COVID-19 Outbreak on Christian Monasteries.

The coronavirus pandemic has put Hezbollah in a complex and sensitive position.

Immediately after the first infected individuals were identified in Lebanon, Hezbollah was accused of conveying the disease to the country from Iran. Air traffic from Tehran to Beirut had continued without letup as Lebanese students and their families fled the universities in Iran, particularly the madrasas of Qom where thousands of Lebanese study, and returned to Lebanon without being checked or quarantined, thereby spreading the disease from Iran to Lebanon.

These accusations sparked fear as well as intense anger at Hezbollah, which claimed that the virus had broken out in the Jesuit monasteries of Beirut and Bikfaya. Hezbollah thereby sought to place the blame at the door of Lebanon’s Maronite Christian community.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who has given several speeches over the past few weeks, stated unequivocally that the responsibility for handling the virus in Lebanon belongs to the Lebanese state and the Lebanese government. That means all residents of Lebanon, including Hezbollah members and their families, must comply with the directives of the Lebanese Health Ministry, which is headed by a Hezbollah-affiliated minister. continued here

UK adds entire Hezbollah movement to terror blacklist and freezes its assets

Israel and US welcome move and call on other nations to blacklist the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group; step follows British government decision last March

LONDON — Britain’s finance ministry on Friday said it had added Lebanon’s entire Hezbollah movement to its list of terrorist groups subject to asset freezing.

The ministry previously only targeted the Shiite organization’s military wing but has now listed the whole group after the government designated it a terrorist organization last March

The change requires any individual or institution in Britain with accounts or financial services connected to Hezbollah to suspend them or face prosecution.

The group had “publicly denied a distinction between its military and political wings,” the Treasury said in a notice posted on its website more here

Turkey: Erdogan and Hezbollah order EU to “Kneel”

President Erdogan of Turkey and Hezbollah politicians in Lebanon are ordering the EU to “kneel” or watch as their countries “open the gates” for millions of illegal migrants.

“Hey European Union. Pull yourself together,” warned the Turkish leader over moves by the EU to condemn his recent incursion into Kurdish-controlled territory in northern Syria.

“I say it again. If you try to label this operation as an invasion, it’s very simple: we will open the gates and send 3.6 million refugees your way,” threatened the Islamist leader, prompting a round of applause from his audience.

Erdogan boasted that his operation had already eliminated over 100 “terrorists” and insisted his goal was to “contribute to Syria’s political and territorial integrity” — although his operation is opposed by the Russian-backed Syrian government which controls most of the country.

He also suggested the leadership of the Saudi regime, which has also been critical of the incursion, “look into the mirror”, suggesting they had themselves caused “tens of thousands” of deaths in Yemen more here

Nasrallah “We will enter Israeli territory”

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday reiterated his threat that terrorist from his group would enter Israeli territory, Israel Hayom reported.

In an interview with Lebanon’s Massir magazine, Nasrallah said: “The enemy is right now in a defensive position. Once we were constantly on the defensive, now we are threatening the enemy, not the opposite. We will enter the occupied territory of Palestine.”

“The balance has changed due to the Iranian revolution’s victory, which was begun by the blessed imam [Ruhollah] Khomeini and is continued by the blessed imam [Ali] Khamenei. continued here