Lebanese Army arrests several Syrian Al-Qaeda members near Palestine border

The Lebanese Army arrested a large number of Syrian militants belonging to the Al-Qaeda linked Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham jihadist group in the disputed Sheba’a Farms on Saturday, a military communique read.

According to the communique, the Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham militants were arrested by the Lebanese Army during a raid near the Israeli border on Saturday; they would also confiscate a large quantity of weapons and ammunition that were stored in this area by the jihadists.

The Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham militants use the Sheba’a Farms to navigate back and forth from Israel in order to carry out attacks against the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and their allies in the nearby Golan Heights.

This is also not the first time the Lebanese military has cracked down on these HTS sleeper cells in the disputed Sheba’a Farms, as their forces have made several prior arrests in this area in 2017.