Israel sent a warning message to the Lebanese government demanding it act against the terrorist group Hezbollah.
By World Israel News Staff
Israel warned Lebanon that if Hezbollah doesn’t stop its efforts to produce precision missiles, Israel will strike the terrorist group’s targets within Lebanon, Israeli and American sources told The Wall Street Journal.
Israeli sources told the paper that they fear that precision technology Hezbollah is obtaining from Iran will turn their missiles into a far more deadly arsenal.
According to the Journal report yesterday, Israel requested from senior officials in the U.S. and France that they relay the message to the Lebanese government that Israel will take action against Hezbollah in their country if it doesn’t take steps to prevent the terrorist group from obtaining advanced precision-missile technology.
Although Hezbollah maintains an arsenal of between 120,000-130,000 missiles already, according to most estimates, they are not precision-guided. Should they obtain such technology, it would put Israeli nerve centers at risk.
On Nov. 30, Hezbollah issued a warning video directed at Israel following an Israeli airstrike in Syria. The video showed satellite images and locations of strategic sites in Israel with the message: “Attack and you will regret it.”
Israeli airstrikes in Syria have been directed at preventing Iranian weapons and technology from reaching Hezbollah in Lebanon. But an October 16 flight of an Iranian cargo airliner directly from Tehran to Beirut suggests Iran may have found a faster and more secure way to put advanced technology into its terrorist proxy’s hands.
Israel is currently carrying out Operation Northern Shield, an effort to eliminate tunnels Hezbollah has been digging as part of a plan to attack the Northern Galilee.
The Israeli government has indicated it may expand the operation to include knocking out Hezbollah’s missiles, which remain the greatest threat from the terror organization.
On Sept. 27, at the U.N., Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed suspected sites in Beirut where Hezbollah was working to convert ground-to-ground missiles to precision-guided ones.
“Israel knows what you are doing, Israel knows where you are doing it, and Israel will not let you get away with it,” Netanyahu said, pointing out three sites on a placard in Lebanon’s capital, one of which was in a soccer stadium.