Report: Hizbullah Tripled Number of Surface-to-Surface Rockets Since 2006
Hizbullah has up to 40,000 rockets and is training its forces to use ground-to-ground missiles capable of hitting Tel Aviv, and anti-aircraft missiles that could challenge Israel”s dominance of the skies over Lebanon, the Times of London reported Wednesday.
Military sources close to Hizbullah told the newspaper that the group wanted to increase the number and effectiveness of its air defense systems.
Hizbullah is believed to have acquired large numbers of SA18 shoulder-fired missiles that could mount a challenge to Israeli helicopters and low-flying jets.
The Times quoted western intelligence sources as saying that Hizbullah fighters were receiving training in Syria on the SA8 system. The radar-guided SA8 missiles are launched from tracked vehicles and have a maximum altitude of 11,000m).
Israeli fighter jets and drones use Lebanese airspace almost daily. Israel says that the flights are necessary for reconnaissance purposes, although the U.N. considers them violations of Security Council resolution 1701.
Israel said that Hizbullah”s acquisition of advanced anti-aircraft missiles could prompt a military response to destroy the systems. Israeli warnings relayed to Syria appear to have forestalled the entry of the SA8 system into Lebanon, the sources said.
According to the Times, the Jewish state claims that Hizbullah has tripled the number of surface-to-surface rockets since 2006, to about 40,000.
"Hizbullah has not only replaced the munitions but upgraded their missiles," Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, said. "They are bragging now that they can hit Tel Aviv."
According to Western intelligence sources, Hizbullah hopes to receive an improved version of the Iranian-manufactured Fateh-110 rocket, which can carry a 500kg warhead more than 200km.
Brigadier-General Alon Friedman, the deputy head of the Israeli Northern Command, told The Times that the peace of the past three years could "explode at any minute."
The Times claimed that surveillance footage showed Hizbullah fighters trying to salvage rockets and munitions from the site of an explosion in Khirbet Selm. "Obstructions were placed in the way of UNIFIL peacekeepers going to investigate," the newspaper said.