Russia's Wagner Group reportedly plans to transfer air defenses to Iranian terror proxy Hezbollah

The Russian Wagner Group is reportedly planning to provide aerial defenses to the Iranian-backed terror proxy Hezbollah, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Washington is concerned that the Russian weapons system could embolden Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to launch a full-scale war against the Jewish state.

Adriene Watson, the spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, expressed Washington’s concern, placed the dangerous Wagner-Hezbollah development within the wider context of Russia’s growing hostility towards Israel and the West.

“The information that was reported by The Wall Street Journal is concerning,” Watson said.

We know that Russia has refused to condemn Hamas for its horrific terrorist attack on Israel and they recently hosted Hamas officials in Moscow. This comes as Russia is continuing to commit atrocities in Ukraine,” Watson stated.

The Russian SA-22 air-defense, known as the Pantsir missile system is designed to intercept drones and aircraft and can be placed on military vehicles. In the hands of Hezbollah, the weapon system could potentially make it more difficult for the Israeli Air Force to operate in the Lebanese skies against Hezbollah terrorists.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently stressed that the Russian-Iranian military alliance fuels the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

“The conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have clear links,” Blinken told the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“Since we cut off Russia’s traditional means of supplying its military, it’s turned more and more to Iran for assistance. In return, Moscow has supplied Iran with increasingly advanced military technology, which poses a threat to Israel’s security.”

On Friday morning, ALL ISRAEL NEWS founder and Editor-in-Chief Joel C. Rosenberg told Fox News that Hezbollah terror leader Hassan Nasrallah risked unleashing an apocalyptic war if the terror group fires its 150,000 rockets at the Jewish state.

“Nasrallah has 150,000 missiles aimed at our heads,” Rosenberg warned. “If he starts to really declare full on war, this thing is going to go apocalyptic.”

While Hezbollah’s forces are concentrated in Lebanon, the Iranian-backed terror proxy also has a presence in neighboring Syria, where Israel has frequently targeted Hezbollah- and Iranian-affiliated military targets.

The presence of Russian forces in Syria has further complicated the situation. Until recently, Israel and Russia had a robust security coordination mechanism with the purpose of preventing accidental clashes between Israeli and Russian forces in the Syrian skies.

However, following Moscow’s growing hostility toward Israel, the Jewish state has reportedly decided to stop warning Russia ahead of its strikes against Hezbollah and Iranian-affiliated targets inside Syria.

Russian-speaking Israeli security expert and journalist Ksenia Svetlova recently blasted Russia’s anti-Israel position in the ongoing war between Hamas and the Jewish state.

“(Russia) has crossed all the red lines already, Svetlova told CNN on Thursday.

She stressed that Israel was very disappointed by Russia’s decision to host senior Hamas officials in Moscow shortly after the terror group had committed the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

“Even this diplomatic embrace of the Hamas team that visited Moscow recently – it meant a lot,” Svetlova said and speculated that the evolving Russia-Hamas cooperation could be more extensive than originally thought.

“Perhaps there is even more to this relationship than we know.”