People stand on a balcony on a bullet-riddled building a day after gunfire erupted in an attack on protesters who were heading for a demonstration called by Hezbollah to demand the removal of the judge investigating last year’s port explosion, in Beirut, Lebanon October 15, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

i24 News – On Wednesday, Defense Minister Benny Gantz disclosed that Israel extended offers of assistance to Lebanon’s armed forces four times throughout the past year.

The news was announced in a pre-recorded speech delivered virtually at an Institute for National Security Studies conference while the official visited Bahrain.

“Lebanon has changed to an island of instability, though Lebanon’s civilians are not our enemies,” Gantz said.

“Therefore, I offered assistance to them four times over the last year, including over the last week, through UNIFIL,” he explained, referring to the United Nations peacekeeping mission situated in the country.

“In a targeted manner, we want to support the Lebanese army that suffers from a lack of basic supplies, and which has lost 5,000 of its soldiers recently.”

Lebanon is in the midst of an economic crisis, and previous cash flows from neighboring powers are stemmed as the Gulf signals its disapproval of Hezbollah’s influence in Beirut’s politics.

Gantz hopes that strengthening Lebanon’s army could act to counter Hezbollah, an Islamist group close to Iran which holds a majority within Lebanon’s parliament.

In his remarks, Gantz did not disclose what kind of aid was offered, or how the Lebanese Army responded.