Hamas says it plans to form military units to operate in southern Lebanon, and according to the organization’s statements in recent weeks it already fired rockets from Lebanon into Israel, during last summer’s war.

The Lebanese daily Al-Hayat reported that during a Hamas political rally on February 4 in Gaza, senior Hamas figure Mahmoud Zahar called on the authorities in Syria and Lebanon to allow the group to establish military units subservient to its military wing in Palestinian refugee camps in those countries. These units, according to Zahar, “will conduct the resistance (also) from northern Palestine and take part with us in liberating it.”

A report by MEMRI, the Middle East Media Research Institute, says that Hamas has never before issued a statement like this by a senior official signaling the group’s intention to open another front against Israel from Syria and Lebanon. According to MEMRI, such a decision could reflect understanding on the part of senior Hamas officials, in light of last summer’s war with Gaza, that opening another front could allow Hamas to exert considerable pressure on Israel in a future military conflict.

– Read more: Hamas seeking to fight Israel from Lebanon – Amos Harel/Haaretz