AN IRAN-BACKED militant group more formidable than Hamas is also the unlikely owner-operator of a multi-million pound theme park.
The tourist attraction, built in 2010 by Lebanese terror organisation Hezbollah, was intended to indoctrinate children and western tourists with hatred for Israel.
AFPVisitors look at tanks left in Lebanon by Israeli forces at the Hezbollah-run war museum[/caption]
Phil Hannaford – The SunTourists can wander through a commander’s bunker at the theme park[/caption]
GettyReplica war scenes feature destroyed Israeli tanks and toppled grave stones[/caption]
AFPA mannequin dressed in military fatigue lies on a stretcher at the park[/caption]
There are fears Hezbollah might declare an all-out war on Israel following daily border clashes which began after Hamas unleashed hell on Israel earlier this month.
The Iran-backed militia leader Hassan Nasrallah will break his silence on the conflict this afternoon.
Where most theme parks would have rides and games, the Tourist Landmark of the Resistance has tanks, rockets, barbed wire, and guns.
Those who visit will be find replica war scenes complete with destroyed Israeli tanks and toppled grave stones.
Large Hebrew letters spell out “The Abyss” and “The Swamp” in stone, meant as taunts directed at Israel.
Archive video footage shows a timeline of Hezbollah’s rise to prominence, as well as its grievances with and victories against Israel.
Children and other tourists can play at aiming anti-aircraft guns, climb overturned armoured personnel carriers, and wander through a Hezbollah bunker and 200-metre-long tunnel used during the 2006 Lebanon War.
A walk through the forest where Hezbollah guerrillas waged their war just four years before the tourist park opened features real weaponry and artefacts, from strewn soldiers’ helmets containing real human hair to burnt clothing with Hebrew inscriptions.
The £3.2million theme park was built on the remains of a former Israeli settlement near the Lebanese village of Mleeta to promote its ideology, or what it calls “resistance tourism”.
It was also once an important base for Hezbollah fighters.
The terrorist group reportedly has plans to expand the park’s visitor facilities with swimming pools, spas, playgrounds, a five-star hotel, and camp site so people “can come here and spend their vacations”.
More than half a million people visited the tourist attraction in the month after it opened.
Hezbollah was founded in the 1980s to oppose Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon, triumphing when Israelis quit the south in 2000.
Some expect the Israeli air force will flatten the tourist park in the next war, as it did in 2006 when it destroyed a museum in the village of Khiam.
Hezbollah could declare war on Israel as soon as today and send its 60,000-strong rocket-laden terror army pouring over the Lebanon-Israel border.
Hassan Nasrallah is expected to make his first public statement on the conflict at 3pm (1pm GMT).
Israel this morning warned that it would “respond to every event along its northern border today and in the days to come”.
“We are on very very high alert,” a military spokesperson announced.
A top commander, who cannot be named for security reasons, last week told The Sun Israel’s “real war” would not be in Gaza but against Hezbollah.
He said: “This is where the real war will be. The war in Gaza ended after two days but that was nothing compared to what could happen here.
“This will be different and will go on for much longer. Hezbollah are a real army, much bigger than Hamas, better trained and better equipped.”
AFPA tunnel leads to a kitchen, prayer hall, and living space for up to 30 men[/caption]
Phil Hannaford – The SunOutside, a round sunken arena features wrecked Israeli tanks and artillery[/caption]
AFPTourists can play with anti-aircraft and machine guns, like real Hezbollah fighters[/caption]
Phil Hannaford – The SunA child looks at a multi-missile launcher surrounded by barbed wire[/caption]
GettyHezbollah’s motivation to build the theme park was what it calls ‘resistance tourism’[/caption]
GettyThe souvenir shop includes snow globes with tanks inside[/caption]
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