Recent reports indicate that two “Al-Abbas Force” operatives were killed in battles against IDF soldiers in southern Lebanon. The Al-Abbas Force is the elite unit of the military wing of the Shiite Amal movement, which fights alongside Hezbollah in south Lebanon. Apparently, there is no connection to the Abbas Brigade of Hezbollah, which is subordinate to the geographical units, with an emphasis on the Nasser unit. The Amal unit is called “Abbas Force” (in Arabic: قوة العباس), while the Hezbollah unit is called “Abbas Brigades” (in Arabic: أفواج العباس).
According to sources affiliated with the Amal movement, the Al-Abbas Force consists of about 220 fighters out of about 17,000 operatives in Amal’s military wing. The Al-Abbas Force is an elite unit that may have trained and prepared to infiltrate Israeli territory and participate in the invasion and occupation of the Galilee, likely alongside and in coordination with Hezbollah’s Radwan Force.
Propaganda photos and videos from the training of the Al-Abbas Force show its operatives raiding Israeli communities after crossing the border. The unit possesses light to medium weapons, including anti-tank missiles and rockets, and has underground staging compounds in southern Lebanon for storing weapons. Amal also has a military infrastructure (weapons depots, headquarters, etc.) in southern Lebanon within the civilian human shield.
Since October 2023, the Amal movement has dispatched many of its operatives, primarily from southern Lebanon to the border area, where they have initiated activities against Israel. The movement deployed its operatives along the border to both defend the villages and launch attacks against Israel. Most of the activists in the movement are residents of villages in southern Lebanon. At least 32 operatives in the military wing of the Amal movement have been killed since the start of the war.
Amal does not officially claim responsibility for attacks against Israel, but its leaders pride themselves on their fighters’ participation in the war. Among them is Nabih Berri, speaker of the Lebanese parliament and head of the Amal movement, who serves, inter alia, as an intermediary between Hezbollah and the international community.
In official Amal statements regarding the deaths of their military operatives in southern Lebanon, they refer to them as “shaheeds who died while fulfilling their national duty in defense of southern Lebanon and the country.” This is in contrast to Hezbollah, which tends to note that its operatives died ” on the way to Jerusalem,” in a clear insinuation of its commitment to the Palestinian cause.
Amal has a strategic partnership with Hezbollah, and it operates under its aegis and in coordination with its operatives.
