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Iranian missiles in Syria ‘threaten most of Israel’ – think tank

The Hezbollah-held compound is only 186 miles away from Israel by air, says the Alma Research and Education Center.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Iranian missiles that are stored and waiting in a mountain base in Syria can reach most of Israel, a security think tank reported Thursday.

According to the Alma Research and Education Center, the Mt. Mohammad Ben Ali site, just north of Palmyra in eastern Syria, contains both medium- and long-range missiles. The shorter-range projectiles can reach targets up to 310 miles (500 kilometers) away, while their bigger counterparts have a range of up to 468 miles (750 km).

Since the compound is only 186 miles (300 km) from Israel by air, this means that even the medium-range missiles in the Hezbollah-held facility can easily hit Israel’s northern and central regions, including the major cities of Haifa, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

The report stated that these consist mainly of the Fateh 110 type of missile, and as its primary threat to Israel, Hezbollah is constantly trying to obtain precision-guidance systems for them to turn them into an even deadlier force.

Since a vast majority of Israel’s manufacturing and high-tech base is concentrated in the central region, Israel acknowledged the potential threat years ago. In a steady “war between the wars,” as the IDF has coined it, Israel has bombed many deliveries in Syria over recent years of components Hezbollah needs for this task, as well as factories attempting to manufacture them locally.

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Destroying the mountain site would be a much more difficult task.

The NGO reported that the compound is well-fortified, with many Iranian-proxy Hezbollah forces in the area. It also estimates “highly” that “air defense systems (probably made in Iran) were installed to secure the land corridor [to Iran] in general and the surface-to-surface missiles stationed there in particular.”

Israeli governments past and present have declared repeatedly that they would not allow Iran to entrench itself militarily on its northern border due to the danger this posed to the country. The Fateh 110s, along with the bigger Scud D’s and Zolfaghar types that could reach well beyond the southern city of Be’er Sheva, certainly qualify as such.

It is thus reasonable to assume that the compound has found its way into the IDF’s target bank, even if an assault is not forthcoming in the near future.

The Alma Center issues reports regularly on the security challenges on Israel’s northern borders. According to its website, the purpose of its in-depth research is to educate a wide range of opinion-makers on the multi-dimensional complexities in the Middle East.