IDF releases photos of suspected Hezbollah missile sites near Beirut airport

The Israeli army on Thursday released satellite images of three sites in Beirut that would be used by the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group to hide underground precision missile production facilities.

The sites, located near the Beirut International Airport, were revealed Thursday night by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during his address to the UN General Assembly.

The factories, which are supposed to convert ordinary missiles into more precise precision missiles, are not supposed to be operational. The Israel Defense Forces said they were being built with Iranian assistance.

Receive daily editions of the Times of Israel by email and never miss our best stories

Free registration

The target of last week's Israeli air strike, in which a Russian spy plane was inadvertently shot down by Syrian air defenses, was the machinery used to produce precision missiles en route to Hezbollah.

According to Netanyahu, these precision missiles are capable of striking 10 meters from their target. Hizbollah is believed to have an arsenal of 100,000 to 150,000 rockets and missiles, although the vast majority are thought to lack precision technology.

They said the facilities were "another example of the Iranian settlement in the region and the negative influence of Iran."

Retaining aerial photos of alleged Hezbollah facilities, Netanyahu warned, "Israel knows what you are doing, Israel knows where you are doing it, and Israel will not let you get away with it."

Netanyahu accused the Lebanese terrorist group of "deliberately using the innocent people of Beirut as human shields".

According to the Israel Defense Forces, Hezbollah began working on these ground-to-ground missile installations last year.

Reports that Iran was building underground missile conversion plants in Lebanon were launched in March 2017.

Since then, Israeli officials have repeatedly said that Israel will not respect these facilities.

In January, Netanyahu said Lebanon "is becoming a precision-guided missile factory that is threatening Israel. These missiles pose a serious threat to Israel and we will not be able to accept this threat. "

One of the alleged sites is under a football field used by a Hezbollah-sponsored team; another is just north of Rafik Hariri International Airport; and the third is under the port of Beirut and less than 500 meters from the airport tarmac.

These three installations are not the only ones that the army believes are used by Hezbollah for the manufacture and storage of precision missiles.

"Israel monitors these sites with a variety of capabilities and tools, has significant knowledge of the precision project and is working to combat it with a variety of operational responses, techniques and tools," said # 39; army.

In May, Netanyahu declared that Israel "was working against the transfer of deadly weapons from Syria to Lebanon or their manufacture in Lebanon".

In recent years, Israel has admitted to conducting hundreds of air strikes in Syria, which it said was aimed at preventing Iran from establishing a permanent military presence in Syria and blocking the transfer of advanced munitions to Hezbollah in Lebanon. .

The Israeli air force largely refrained from raiding Lebanon itself, although it indicated that it was ready to do so.

Earlier this year, IAF chief Amiram Norkin showed the visiting generals a picture of an Israeli stealth fighter F-35 flying next to Beirut airport, in what was considered a direct message to Hezbollah.

Israel fought a punitive war with Hezbollah in 2006. Jerusalem believes that the group has since rearmed tens of thousands of missiles that can threaten all Israel.