Report Says Syria Gave Hezbollah Rockets

United Press International (Link) (October 15, 2009)

Syria has given Hezbollah more than a quarter of its arsenal, including missiles capable of hitting anywhere in Israel, a television report said.

Syrian and Iranian military officers also are training Hezbollah fighters in the Lebanese mountains to use advanced missile systems, Israel Channel 10 reported Thursday.

The television station said it based its report on an article in the Kuwaiti Arabic-language newspaper al-Jarida.

The television report said the newspaper interviewed diplomats in Jerusalem on the issue.

Iranian and Syrian military officers are not only training Hezbollah operatives to use the new missiles but are assisting them to set up early warning stations in the Lebanese mountains to alert them when Israeli air force jets enter Lebanese airspace, the report said.

Israeli security officials have estimated Hezbollah has an arsenal of more than 40,000 rockets and more than 300 weapons caches in southern Lebanon.