Hizbollah is now focused on fighting Islamic State rather than concentrating its terrorist activities against Israel.

Mohammed Fneish, a government minister in Lebanon and a leader of the group, told the BBC that Hizbollah was combating extremist jihadi organisations such as Islamic State (IS), because they “kill more Muslims than Israel”.

Mr Fneish, who is Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs in Beirut, said: “What really causes a threat to Muslims is the likes of these organisations. This reflects badly on Muslims, because those groups kill more Muslims than Israel does. They kill Sunni Muslims as well.”

However, he said that Hizbollah would still fight against Israel.

“This continues to be a battle against Israel, but the rules and the locations of the engagement have changed.”

He went on to blame IS’s expansion on Western states, naming “the US, Britain and France,” and said that any convergence between Hizbollah and Western states’ goals was temporary, and the result of western actions which have allowed IS to thrive.

Mr Fneish, 61, also said Western intervention in Syria is designed “to protect Israel.”

Hizbollah is currently fighting in the Syrian civil war on the side of President Bashar al-Assad. Forbes Israel recently reported that Hizbollah is the fourth richest terrorist organisation in the world, with a war chest of £317m.