Hezbollah says it has 'precision missiles'
Lebanon's Hezbollah yesterday said it had acquired "precision missiles" despite extensive efforts by neighbour and foe Israel to prevent the Shiite movement developing this capability.
"It has been done. The resistance now owns precision missiles" as part of its weaponry, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised address during the key Shiite commemoration of Ashura.
Israel this month acknowledged carrying out more than 200 strikes over the past 18 months in war-torn Syria, where Hezbollah fights alongside Israel's arch-foe and Shiite powerhouse Iran in support of the Damascus regime.
Israel has said it is working to stop both Iran and Hezbollah from acquiring sophisticated arms.
"Attempts in Syria to block the way towards this (missile) capability" have failed, Nasrallah said.
"If Israel imposes a war on Lebanon, it will face a fate that it never would have expected."
Israel has fought several conflicts against Hezbollah, the last in 2006.
The Israeli military believes Hezbollah has between 100,000 and 120,000 short-range missiles and rockets, as well as several hundred longer-range missiles.
Nasrallah accused the Israelis of trying to kill him "day and night". He has lived in a secret location for decades and rarely appears in public.
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