Israel Defense

Report: Israel mulls destroying missiles transferred from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon

From: jpost.com

By: jpost.com staff

Israel has information on the location of long-range missiles transferred from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon and is considering taking military action to destroy the weapons, Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida reported on Friday.

The paper, quoting an Israeli security source close to Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, reported that the remote-operated missiles, with a range of 1,500 kilometers, were made in China and further developed in Iran.

According to the source, the missiles are being stored by Hezbollah in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon.

The Jerusalem Post could not confirm the veracity of the report.

Al-Jarida quoted the Israeli source as saying that Jerusalem views the missiles as posing a danger to the security of Israel and are therefore examining the possibility of destroying the arsenal.

Israel has said repeatedly that while it does not wish to interfere in Syria's civil war, it would act to halt the transfer of chemical arms or "game-changing" weapons to Hezbollah.

"Our policy is to stop, as much as possible, any leaks of advanced weaponry to Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations. We will continue to act to ensure the security interests of the citizens of Israels," Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stressed earlier this year.

According to foreign reports, Israel has struck weaponry earmarked for Hezbollah within Syria's borders on a number of occasions in the past year.