Israel says Hezbollah plans advanced missile plant in Lebanon Ynetnews/Reuters/|September 03/2019
Israel Alleges Presence of Missile Factory near al-Nabi Sheet Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 03/2019
الجيش الإسرائيلي: مصنع صواريخ لحزب الله في النبي شيت المدن/الثلاثاء 03/09/2019
أعلن الناطق باسم الجيش الإسرائيلي أن حزب الله أقام موقعًا مخصّصًا لإنتاج وتحويل الصواريخ الدقيقة في البقاع قرب بلدة النبي شيت. وقال أن “المنشأة أقيمت في السنوات الأخيرة كموقع لإنتاج الوسائل القتالية بقيادة إيران وحزب الله. وقد تم أخيراً رصد عمليات إضافية تهدف لاستخدامها كموقع لإنتاج وتحويل الصواريخ إلى دقيقة. وفي إطار هذه الأعمال، يتم إنشاء خط إنتاج للأسلحة الدقيقة، ويتم نقل المعدّات الخاصة والحساسة إلى الموقع. كما أعلن أن “في الموقع الذي يقع شمال النبي شيت هناك عدة مجمعات، معدّة لإنتاج المحركات والرؤوس الحربية للصواريخ ذات القدرة على الاستهداف الدقيق لنحو عشرة أمتار. وتقوم إيران بتزويد المجمّع بالآلات الخاصة، والإرشادات للعاملين في الإنتاج، وهي ترافق العمليات في الموقع بشكل دائم.” وأوضح أن “لهذا الموقع أهميّة عليا لمشروع الصواريخ الدقيقة بالنسبة لحزب الله، ولذلك يقوم نشطاء من حزب الله في الأيام الأخيرة، بإخلاء معدات خاصّة وغالية الثمن منه، خوفًا من استهداف المكان، وقد قاموا بنقل المعدات إلى ممتلكات مدنية في لبنان، ومنها في العاصمة بيروت.”
Israel says Hezbollah plans advanced missile plant in Lebanon Ynetnews/Reuters/|September 03/2019
IDF claims the Iran-backed terror group had been bringing specialized equipment to a weapons factory in the Bekaa Valley in an effort to set up a production line for precision-guidance missiles, hinting at further Israeli attacks in the area
Israel accused Hezbollah on Tuesday of setting up a factory for precision-guided missiles in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, in a veiled warning of further possible Israeli counter-strikes after a drone attack near Beirut attributed to Israel set off brief cross-border fighting. Sunday’s shelling exchange was the fiercest between Israel and Hezbollah since the end of the 2006 Second Lebanon War. While neither side is keen to see an escalation, Israel has said it could act against any upgrades of Hezbollah’s missile arsenal, while Hezbollah has said it would retaliate for any attacks on Lebanese soil. In a statement to media accompanied by satellite images, the Israeli military said that Hezbollah, with Iranian assistance, had been bringing specialised equipment to a weapons factory near the Bekaa village of al-Nabi Sheet with a view to setting up a production line for precision-guidance missiles. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in response that Israel’s enemies will not possess precision-guided missiles on his watch. “These precision missiles are aimed directly at (the northern city of) Kiryat Ata,” said the prime minister. Hezbollah recently moved some of the equipment to “civilian locations” in Beirut as a precaution against strikes, the Israel Defense Forces l statement said, alluding to tensions that surged after the August 25 drone incident in a Hezbollah stronghold in a Beirut suburb. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah, which has denied having precision-guided missile production sites in Lebanon. But it says it possess such weapons, which could be used to home in on and knock out key Israeli infrastructure. In an August 31 speech, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah accused Israel of using the movement’s capability with precision-guided missiles as a pretext for attacks. Israel has not formally claimed responsibility for the Beirut drone strike, which a regional security source said hit a component of the precision-guided missile project. Hoping to move Beirut to rein in Hezbollah, Israel has signalled that in any further flare-up it could carry out widespread attacks on Lebanon.
Israel Alleges Presence of Missile Factory near al-Nabi Sheet Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 03/2019
Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee on Tuesday claimed that Hizbullah has set up a factory for producing precision-guided missiles near the Bekaa town of al-Nabi Sheet, saying the purported plant is part of the party’s alleged precision missile program. “This site is of great importance to Hizbullah regarding the precision-guided missile program, that’s why Hizbullah operatives have been evacuating special and expensive equipment from it, fearing a strike on the location,” Adraee tweeted. “They have transferred the equipment to civilian properties in Lebanon, including in the capital Beirut,” he added. On Thursday, the Israeli army accused Iran of collaborating with Hizbullah to assemble precision-guided missiles that could cause “massive” human casualties in Israel. Tehran and Hizbullah plan to convert “stupid rockets into precision-guided missiles,” Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus told journalists in a conference call. Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah responded on Saturday, saying: “In Lebanon, we have what we need in terms of precision missiles for any confrontation great or small… we don’t have precision missile factories.” The statements came amid soaring tensions between the two sides over Israeli strikes in Syria and in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Hizbullah retaliated on Sunday by firing Kornet missiles at an Israeli military vehicle in northern Israel.
