Military expert: Hezbollah possess sophisticated weapons

Hezbollah possesses sophisticated weapons that could be used to target Israel, a retired Lebanese army general said today, a day after the militant group’s leader promised that Israel would face a “big surprise” if it invaded Lebanon.

In a speech marking the year anniversary of the cease-fire that ended last’s summer’s Israel-Hezbollah war, the Shiite Muslim group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, warned Israel against striking Lebanon.

“Oh Zionists, if you think of launching a war on Lebanon, and I don’t advise to do it. ... I promise you a big surprise that could change the fate of war and the fate of the region,” Nasrallah told a mass rally last night in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold that was heavily bombed by Israeli warplanes during the 34-day war.

Nasrallah did not elaborate on his threat but reiterated that his group possessed long-range rockets that could reach deep into the Jewish state.

During yesterday’s speech, he did not specify how many rockets Hezbollah has, but in October, Nasrallah said Hezbollah had 33,000 rockets.

His comments have not been independently confirmed, and the number and type of weapons Hezbollah are not known.

The UN-brokered cease-fire that ended the war a year ago demands that Hezbollah disarm and prohibits the group from receiving arms shipments. But the guerrillas have refused to lay down their weapons, saying the arms were needed to defend Lebanon against Israeli threats.

Retired Lebanese army Gen. Elias Hanna said Wednesday he believes Nasrallah’s speech shows that Hezbollah possesses thousands of advanced anti-aircraft missiles.

“Israel has air superiority. So Hezbollah must act to deny Israel this superiority by using advanced anti-aircraft missiles,” Hanna told The Associated Press.

Hanna said that in addition to Hezbollah’s possession of long-range missiles, “there is a possibility that Hezbollah may have some sleeper cells inside Israel that could be activated in the event of war.”

He also warned that Hezbollah could have sleeper cells abroad, though the militant group has denied this allegation.

In Israel, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said while there has been an improvement in security situation on Israel’s northern border, concerns still remain.

“We are concerned, however, as to continued attempts of Hezbollah to rearm. Specifically, we are concerned that there is a flow of illicit weapons from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah in direct violation of the UN resolution, and we believe the international community should act against countries who by continuing to supply weaponry to Hezbollah are acting to undermine a UN security council resolution,” Regev said.

Israeli Cabinet Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer also said he recommended taking Nasrallah’s comments seriously.

“Nasrallah has never lied. He is cocky, he is arrogant, but at least from our experience with him, to my regret, what he has said, he has done. And when he says ’I have 20,000 missiles’ I believe him,” Ben-Eliezer told Israel’s Army Radio today.

Earlier this month, the UN Security Council expressed “grave concern” at reports of arms smuggling to Lebanon, but dropped a direct call to Syria and Iran, Hezbollah’s main allies, to enforce the UN arms embargo.

The council also voiced “deep concern” about recent statements by Nasrallah “that it retains the military capacity to strike all parts of Israel.”

The war erupted on July 12, 2006, when Hezbollah guerrillas crossed the border into Israel and attacked an Israeli patrol, killing three soldiers and capturing two. More than 1,000 Lebanese and 159 Israelis were killed in the war.