On May 28, 2023, the “Galilee Forces—Lone Wolves” organization claimed responsibility for an incident that occurred on the Israeli-Lebanese border on March 21, 2023. In this incident, two IDF soldiers were injured due to the explosion of an old mine that had been swept from a known nearby minefield during routine IDF activity in an enclave on the Lebanese border. The incident in question was not the result of a planned attack on IDF forces.
The claim of responsibility was made public on the Galilee Forces Telegram account. This was hardly the Galilee Forces’ first or only bogus claim of responsibility. Following the Megiddo incident (March 12, 2023), accounts linked with the Galilee forces claimed responsibility for more attacks, including vehicular attacks, shooting attacks, and even a shooting attack carried out at the Merkaz HaRav yeshiva in Jerusalem in 2008.
The terrorists, in all the above attacks for which the Galilee Forces allegedly claimed responsibility, were definitely identified with other terrorist organizations, therefore the claim of responsibility by the Galilee Forces is meaningless and fictitious.
While not all of the specifics have been made public, it is extremely likely that the Megiddo attack was a Hezbollah operation, whether under direct orders, supervision, or assistance of some type or another. The location and method of the crossing of the fence, using a standard IED, the terrorist’s death near the Lebanese border, and other elements all point to this. The Galilee forces’ hasty claim of responsibility was intended to provide an alibi for Hezbollah and distance it from the incident.
It is quite likely that this is a fictional platform run by Hezbollah on social media and the Internet, and it is highly doubtful that the “organization” has the people and logistical infrastructure, as well as the operational capability, to carry out assaults.
Many propaganda clips have been broadcast by networks associated with the “forces of Galilee” since March 2023. These contain anti-Jewish rhetoric and are intended to instill terror. They are frequently accompanied by Hebrew subtitles littered with faults and appear to result from mechanical translations. Other films include direct threats to well-known persons such as Itamar Ben-Gvir (Minister of National Security), Yuval Diskin (former Shin Bet Director), Aviv Kochavi (former IDF Chief of Staff), and others.
Another sort of video is instructional clips that show how to perform various types of attacks, such as shooting from a motorcycle or a vehicle, stabbing attacks, escaping after an attack, and so on.
Along with these productions, these networks post many photographs and content openly supporting Iran, Hezbollah, and the Shiite Axis.
Little information is available regarding the Galilee Forces’ history, the identities of its operatives, and so on. Various claims published on social media and in Arab media during the previous decade indicate that a militia with the same name had been active in Syria from the beginning of the previous decade. The militia fought with the Assad regime, was purportedly affiliated with Hezbollah, and openly supported the Shiite Axis. It was also reported that the militia’s head, Fadi al-Malah (born in 1984), and his operatives, predominantly Palestinian Syrians from the Damascus area, fought in several arenas during Syria’s civil war.
In our opinion, there is no link between the aforesaid militia and who or what is today referred to as the “Galilee forces.”
The claim of responsibility for various terrorist attacks, some of which occurred more than a decade ago, as well as the publication of a large amount of content, appear to have been designed to give the impression that this is not a new network but one that has been active for some time, both in Israel and abroad. However, as previously said, it is clear that most of the organization’s activity is focused on the Internet, creating propaganda and psychological warfare information. Most of its activities began in February 2023, just before the Megiddo attack.
As of this writing, we are not aware of any physical activity by the Galilee forces in Judea and Samaria, Lebanon, or Syria.
