Syria has restarted heavy weapons production for the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, the head of Israeli Military Intelligence said June 15.
The Syrian regime is currently in one of the strongest battlefield positions since the Syrian civil war began five years ago. With the support of the Russian military, the regime has regained the upper hand against other rebel groups, allowing them to refocus on strengthening their partners.
IHS Janes reports the weapons include guided rockets with a range of nearly 186 miles. Hezbollah’s guided rockets are significantly more powerful than the smaller rockets Hamas routinely launches into Israeli territory, and pose a grave threat to the Israeli population should war erupt between Israel and Hezbollah again.
Israeli General Herzi Halevi warned the new surge in Syrian weaponry to the terrorist group, combined with existing Iranian support could easily ignite another war. Israel and Hezbollah went to war in 2006 after Hezbollah launched an attack on Israeli soldiers patrolling the Israeli-Lebanese border and then kidnapped two Israeli soldiers. After a 34-day war, the United Nations brokered a ceasefire and negotiated a prisoner exchange, returning the dead remains of the captured Israeli soldiers.
Syrian weapons production for Hezbollah is likely the result of a reciprocal agreement between the two parties, along with a guarantee from the Islamic Republic of Iran. Hezbollah militants have reportedly died in the thousands alongside the Syrian regime on the Syrian battlefield.
Many Hezbollah militants do not see the point of expending so many resources in the Syrian civil war, when they joined the terrorist group to fight Israel. Hezbollah’s leadership has branded the fight in the Syrian civil war as a preemptive fight against the Islamic State. In reality Hezbollah’s main funders, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Syrian Regime, are likely demanding Hezbollah support in their efforts to hold on to power in Syria.
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