Hezbollah has restored its military capabilities, particularly its long-range missile arsenal one year after the Second Lebanon War, Israel Radio reported Tuesday morning.

A senior official of Israeli defense forces claimed in an interview with Israel Radio that Syria was transferring weapons to Hezbollah with the full knowledge of the Lebanese army and behind the back of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Hezbollah stays quiet at the moment so that it could restore the sites from which the rockets were launched during last summer's war, the official added.

Local paper Ha'aretz quoted Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah as telling the pan-Arab al-Jazeera TV channel on Monday that the group had the ability to launch rockets against any point in Israel.

Hezbollah had the capability to strike every part of Israel during last summer's war, and retains that capability, he said. "Even in the months of July and August 2006 there was not one place in occupied Palestine that we could not reach, every point and every corner," Nasrallah was quoted as saying. "I stress that we can do this today as well."

However, a senior Israeli security source was skeptical about Nasrallah's assertions, saying that they could at most reach points in central Israel, north of the Tel Aviv region.

The UN-brokered cease-fire that ended the war expanded United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon to 13,000 troops.

Agencies

Güncelleme Tarihi: 24 Temmuz 2007, 19:26