Israel raises Hezbollah rocket estimate to 150,000 - By Avi Issacharoff - http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-raises-hezbollah-rocket-estimate-to-150000/
New assessments suggest the Lebanese terror group is ramping up efforts to acquire weapons
Israeli officials believe that the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah has amassed around 150,000 rockets, including a number of long range Iranian-made missiles capable of striking Israeli cities from north to south.
The estimates represent a 50 percent increase in the group's weapons stockpiles since May, when a senior Israeli intelligence official put the number at 100,000.
The revised valuation on rockets suggests Hezbollah is ramping up efforts to acquire weapons whose purpose is to attack Israel, despite its deep involvement in the Syrian civil war.
Hezbollah forces have been operating in Syrian territory for over three and a half years. Thousands of the organization's fighters are thought to be on Syrian soil and hundreds, some say thousands, have been killed there, including at least one senior officer.
The organization has simultaneously continued to amass short- and medium-range rockets from Syria while also increasing its cache of Iranian-made long-range missiles.
Hezbollah has also established a fleet of unmanned combat drones, designed for more than simple intelligence gathering.
The group is continuing its efforts to acquire SA-17 and SA-22 ground-to-air missiles as well as P-800 Oniks air-to-sea missiles. In light of the events in Syria and and the ongoing civil war, as well as the Israeli attacks on weapons convoys en route to Hezbollah, the organization has upped its efforts to bring in more Iranian weapons.
The group fought a three-week war with Israel in 2006 that saw thousands of rockets pound Israel's north. Israeli officials say they consider the transfer of advanced weapons to the group to be a red line; a number of airstrikes in Syria have been attributed to Israeli efforts to stymie the movement of missiles.
On Wednesday, websites affiliated with the Syrian opposition reported an Israeli strike near Damascus airport.
Witnesses described huge explosions, and blasts could be heard for several minutes. According to number of unconfirmed reports, the target of the strikes was an Iranian arms shipment destined for Hezbollah. Less than two weeks ago, Syrian media reported that Israel Air Force jets attacked military bases of both the Assad regime and Hezbollah in the Qalamoun Mountains region near the border with Lebanon.
Despite the assessment of increased weapons stockpiles, the prevailing view in Israel is that Hezbollah is not interested in a confrontation or a war now.
On Wednesday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said that his organization was "proud that the little Satan and the great Satan devoted their meeting in the White House to the issue of Hezbollah," referring to discussions between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama.
"Hezbollah is at the forefront and in a real position of influence over the region," he said.
'Hezbollah weapons warehouses were the target of Wednesday's Israeli airstrikes in Syria' - http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Hezbollah-weapons-warehouses-were-the-target-of-Wednesdays-Israeli-airstrikes-in-Syria-432840
Arab media reports airstrikes that were attributed to Israel damaged military outposts on the outskirts of Damascus airport.
The target of Israel's alleged airstrikes in Syria on Wednesday evening were Hezbollah weapons warehouses, Arab media affiliated with the opposition to Syrian President Basher Assad reported Thursday.
Pro-Assad operatives on Facebook said that the strikes, adjacent to Damascus airport, struck "military outposts near the airport, and there is a high probability that it was IDF warplanes that struck."
New portal 'Damascus Alan,' which is affiliated with the Assad regime, reported that heavy damage was caused to army outposts around the airport, all of which went up in flames. The site did not specify what damage was caused to the outposts, but they said that nobody was hurt.
Syrian opposition activist Ahmed Yabrudi said: "Israeli warplanes entered from south Lebanon, arrived at Qalamoun and flew above the international airport in Damascus where they struck nearby military outposts."
He added that "the Israeli planes remained in Syria's skies for a half hour, and there is no information about the outposts that were hit - except that they belonged to Hezbollah."
Official Syrian media failed to report on the air strikes attributed to Israel.
Israeli defense officials also declined to comment on the foreign media reports.
However, Israel did previously announce a strict-policy of intolerance towards threats to the state, such as weapons transfers to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The last reported Israeli strike in Syria, on October 31, targeted numerous Hezbollah targets in Syria's south.
In the October alleged attack, Syrian media reported that up to a dozen Israeli war planes conducted the mission close to the Lebanon-Syria border in the Qalamoun Mountains region. Estimated targets included a weapons convoy destined for Hezbollah fighters traveling through Syria.
The alleged attack on Wednesday night would be the second attributed to Israel since Russia began operating in the area.
Israel has reportedly struck Hezbollah in Syria several times over the past year.
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