Wednesday, a U.S. federal judge ruled that North Korea and Iran were liable for damages caused by Hebollah rocket fire into Israel.

According to The Sacramento Bee:

The two countries are liable because they “provided material support and assistance to the Hezbollah terrorists who fired the rockets at Israel,” U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth concluded. A special master will now be assigned to determine the amount of damages that will be assessed; collecting the money owed, of course, will be a different matter.

In his 18-page decision, Lamberth said “there can be no doubt that North Korea and Iran provided material support” to Hezbollah.

The ruling itself provides more details of the cooperation between North Korea, Iran, and Hezbollah.

The Court finds by clear and convincing evidence that Hezbollah carried out the rocket attacks that caused plaintiffs’ injuries and that North Korea provided material support. Prior to July 12, 2006, North Korea provided Hezbollah with a wide variety of material support and resources, within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1605A. This material support included professional military and intelligence training and assistance in building a massive network of underground military installations, tunnels, bunkers, depots and storage facilities in southern Lebanon. Moreover, North Korea worked in concert with Iran and the Syria to provide rocket and missile components to Hezbollah. North Korea sent these rocket and missile components to Iran where they were assembled and shipped to Hezbollah in Lebanon via Syria. These rocket and missile components were intended by North Korea and Hezbollah to be used and were in fact used by Hezbollah to carry out rocket and missile attacks against Israeli civilian targets. Between July 12, 2006 and August 14, 2006, Hezbollah fired thousands of rockets and missiles at civilians in northern Israel. As a result of North Korea’s provision of material support and resources, Hezbollah was able to implement and further goals shared by Hezbollah and North Korea

The ruling’s mention of  Hezbollah’s “massive network of underground military installations, tunnels, bunkers, depots and storage facilities” evoke parallels to Hamas, another Iranian-backed terror group, whose tunnels present a strategic threat to Israel. It is further evidence of Iran’s “role in fueling Middle East terror.”

In The  Woman Who Makes the Jihadis Squirm, published in the February 2014 issue of The Tower Magazine, editor David Hazony interviewed Nitsana Darshan Leitner of the Israel Law Center, the organization that spearheaded the successful suit: “The reason Iran was originally blacklisted in 1996 wasn’t because they had a nuclear program, it was because they were the bankers for international terrorism. Even if they stop enriching uranium, they will still be the main supporters of Hamas, Islamic jihad, and Hezbollah, as well as major players in the war crimes going on in Syria.”

[Photo: Arirang News / YouTube ]