Barak: Hezbollah arsenal bigger than ever

By · August 27, 2007

Hezbollah’s arsenal is bigger than it was before the Lebanon war, Israel’s defense minister said.

Ehud Barak, appearing Monday before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said Hezbollah has managed to replace missiles that were fired at Israel or destroyed on the ground during last year’s war, and has even expanded its stores.

“Hezbollah is amassing ordnance, and this is something we must internalize,” Barak was quoted as telling the panel.

Before the eruption of hostilities in July 2006, Hezbollah had approximately 13,000 missiles. Israeli assessments are that the arsenal now includes as many as 20,000 missiles of various ranges.

With U.N. peacekeepers now patrolling the former Hezbollah heartland of southern Lebanon, Barak said, the new missiles have been stationed further inland, north of the Litani River.