HEZBOLLAH deputy general secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem has said that the Lebanese Shi’ite movement had provided intelligence to Palestinian factions in Gaza, claiming that it had changed the course of the latest Israeli aggression.

Gen Qassem said that the information provided to the Palestinian resistance forces, which were aided by drone surveillance, had hampered the Israeli military’s attempt to launch a ground offensive during its recent 11-day bombardment of Gaza.

It was the first time Hezbollah has officially announced its co-operation with the Palestinian forces, which also included the supply of weapons and ammunition to Gaza and providing shelter to leading Palestinian figures.

In May, it was revealed that Hezbollah had formed a so-called “chamber of military operations” with Hamas and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the Lebanese capital Beirut during the assault on Gaza.

General Esmail Qaani, commander of the IRGC’s al-Quds Force, visited Lebanon twice that month to attend the meetings of the chamber.

More than 250 Palestinians, including 66 children, were killed during Israel’s bombing campaign. It has been accused of war crimes after schools and hospitals were targeted.

A report by the United Nations, European Union and World Bank earlier this week revealed that the 11-day assault had caused damage worth at least £275 million and pushed 62 per cent of Gaza’s two million-strong population into food insecurity.