By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Syria has supplied Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah militia with advanced Russia-made anti-aircraft missile systems, which could jeopardise Israel’s aerial supremacy in the region, an Israeli media report said.
The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) is worried that Syrian deliveries of huge quantities of surface-to-air missiles could change the balance of power in the Middle East.
“The potential for escalation in Lebanon is huge, and Hezbollah continues to strengthen with regard to long-range weaponry and potential ‘surprises’ on the battlefield,” the Haaretz daily quoted an IDF source as saying.
The IDF did not specify the exact type of the anti-aircraft weaponry, but Russia’s medium-range Buk M1 and M2 (NATO SA-11 Gadfly/SA-17 Grizzly) could be among the systems in question, the paper said.
The source said Syria has made regular transfers of weapons to Lebanon, which began before the start of the current insurgency against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last year.
“The more Assad loses his grip, the more the deliveries will increase. We’re troubled by the transfer of strategic components from Syria to Lebanon, and if that happens, it might be cause for a more active response,” the source said.