American and Israeli elements believe that Syria has transferred long and medium range surface-to-surface Scud missiles to Hezbollah which could target most of the Zionist entity’s territory, the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper reported.
According to the report, which is based on American sources in Washington, Israeli and Western intelligence services have discovered that the Syrian army has been training Hezbollah operatives on how to operate a line of missiles from Syria's weapons arsenal including anti-aircraft and medium-long range Scud missiles.
The US sources told the paper that Israel has warned Syria, via Turkey and Qatar, of its intention to bomb Lebanese and Syrian targets should the missiles cross the border and reach Hezbollah. The Syrian ambassador to Washington was summoned for a talk.
The al-Rai paper further reported that US Senator John Kerry met with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus, who denied the reports. However, Assad did not convince the Americans, who fear that the transfer of missiles would lead to a regional war, especially if Israel should decide to act on its threat.
Ynet commented on the report saying that it should be noted that the Scud shipment has not changed the military balance as Hezbollah already possess long and medium range missiles and rockets which could go as far as Beersheba. However, the transfer bears a symbolic significance boosting the resistance group's confidence since the only bodies which hold surface-to-surface ballistic missiles are sovereign states.
“Hezbollah has therefore become the only non-governmental organization in the world to hold such weapons. One can assume had the missiles been "tie-breaking weapons," the Israeli army would have already taken action. It should also be noted that Israel is currently abstaining from taking any step which would divert international focus from Iran sanctions,” Ynet added.
The Scud missile is designated to hit population centers in the Tel Aviv Metropolitan area or Haifa. According to the Kuwaiti report, the missiles transferred to Hezbollah are not state-of-the-art and are apparently stationed deep inside Lebanon for fear of an Israel Air-Force strike.
"Syria believes it need do nothing more than let itself be courted by the world, while saying one thing and doing the opposite," Peres said amid Israeli media reports of rising tensions.
He made the comments just hours before flying to Paris, where he is expected to discuss the issue with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai declined to go into details of the alleged Scud shipments but said that "Hezbollah's firing capacity has significantly improved."
In February, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Lebanon of allowing Hezbollah to develop its stockpile of weapons.
Israel estimates Hezbollah's arsenal at some 40,000 rockets, a significant rise from the group's 14,000 rockets in 2006.
Vilnai said that Israel would again conduct military exercises this year to prepare for possible rocket attacks by Hezbollah.
SECOND LEBANON WAR LESSONS
It was reported last month that Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak discussed the transfer of weapons from Syria to Hezbollah during his Washington visit. It is likely that Barak, who fears a "tie-breaking weapon" in Lebanon, was referring to anti-aircraft systems which Hezbollah is after, having drawn lessons from the Second Lebanon War.
At the time, the group was armed with light shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles which were unable to seriously target the IAF. Hezbollah is therefore interested in obtaining heavy, sophisticated and long-range anti-aircraft systems such as radar detectors, radar-guided missile batteries and cannons which could damage the IAF's aerial and intelligence freedom in Lebanon.
Arab and Western media recently reported that Hezbollah operatives have been training in Syria on using SA-8 man-portable anti-aircraft batteries which can target jets and helicopters at low and medium altitude.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
No comments:
Post a Comment