American officials showed pictures of the sites on behalf of the Israelis to the Lebanese president and prime minister.
By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
Israel knows where Hezbollah has hidden its precision rockets, and has sent a warning about them to Lebanon through the Americans, Al-Hayat reported Sunday.
The London-based Saudi paper said that Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield showed pictures of the secret sites to the president and prime minister of Israel’s northern neighbor when he visited last week. The photos, accompanied by maps, had been provided by Israel.
According to the paper’s source, he told the Lebanese leaders that the United States “can no longer ignore the Israeli claims after being presented with these proofs.”
The Trump administration has continued the U.S. policy of sending Lebanon military aid even though Hezbollah, which is an Iranian proxy, has officially been part of the government for several years.
So far in 2019, the U.S. has sent the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) tens of millions of dollars’ worth of equipment. This includes a shipment of laser-guided smart missiles worth $16 million, six drones worth $11 million, night vision goggles, radios and more. In 2018, Lebanon’s air force received a $100 million upgrade.
Al Hayat reported that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s fiery speech on Friday marking International Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day was his response to the American presentation.
The day is marked by virulently anti-Israel demonstrations and speeches that are usually attended by large crowds in Arab countries, and especially in Iran. Much smaller protests held in Western countries, such as in Europe, have faced pushback by politicians and pro-Israel counter-demonstrators.
Nasrallah said that his terrorist organization has “precision rockets that are able to target direct posts in Israel.” He warned that “Israel would pay the price” if war broke out between the United States and his Iranian backers, and mocked Israel as weak.
“Israel is a strong country, but right now it’s weaker than ever,” he said. “It’s afraid of rockets from Gaza, from Lebanon, from Syria, from Iraq and from Iran.”
“Israel is afraid of us,” he claimed, “always talking about our missile capabilities. We understand that Israel doesn’t accept our precision rockets, and says that it will bomb the production facilities, but we have enough precision rockets that we can change the equation in the region.”
“Every Israeli attack on Hezbollah will bring a swift and strong response,” the terrorist leader vowed at the end of his speech.