Hezbollah announces new Jihad group

JERUSALEM, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- A new Palestinian militant group called Hezbollah Brigades of Palestine says it has established itself to "carry out Jihad."

The group issued a statement Saturday describing itself as a "Sunni Jihad group which has nothing to do with politics" made up of "former members of Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and leftist parties" whose goal is to "carry out Jihad for the sake of Allah and resist enemies of Islam," the Israeli Web site DEBKAfile.com reported.

Unnamed sources told the Web site the Lebanese Hezbollah is behind the new group, saying it aims to lure members of all the established Palestinian terrorist groups on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip for ad hoc operations against Israel.

DEBKAfile.com said unnamed Israeli counter-terrorism officials believe Hezbollah issued the statement to counter a warning from Brig. Gaby Eisenkott of the Israeli Defense Forces that any new Hezbollah rocket attacks would result in the destruction of Shiite villages in southern Lebanon.