海角大神

Israel鈥檚 top military officer warned today that Hezbollah is more powerful than most of the world鈥檚 armies and that a confrontation between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militant organization was a near certainty.

While the threat posed by conventional Arab armies has diminished in recent years, Israel now faces highly mobile enemies like Hezbollah, skilled in asymmetric warfare and equipped with advanced weapons systems, Gen. Benny Gantz聽said. However, the massive destruction Israel can inflict on Hezbollah鈥檚 assets and Lebanon鈥檚 infrastructure continues to deter Hezbollah from overt aggression against Israel.聽

鈥淏ring me four or five states that have more firepower than Hezbollah: Russia, China, Israel, France, and England,鈥� he told Israel鈥檚 annual security-oriented Herzliya Conference. 鈥淲hat is this enormous power that they [Hezbollah] have that can cover every area of the state of Israel?鈥�

Gantz鈥檚 comments reflect Israel's longstanding concern about Hezbollah鈥檚 growing might, which has soared in terms of weaponry, technology, and personnel since the two enemies last fought each other in open war in 2006.

Last week, an anonymous Israeli intelligence officer wrote in Israel鈥檚 Maarachot military magazine that in the next war, Hezbollah would not merely defend against an Israeli invasion but could make a 鈥済round offensive and multi-pronged attack on Israeli territory."

In the past eight years,聽the Iran-backed group is believed to have acquired GPS-guided Syrian-manufactured missiles fitted with 1,100-pound warheads with ranges of at least 150 miles.聽That puts Tel Aviv within range of the Lebanese border.聽It also has drones that can carry dozens of pounds of explosive. In October 2012, a drone operated by Hezbollah penetrated Israeli airspace in the south before being detected and shot down by Israeli jets.

Hezbollah鈥檚 reconnaissance and communications capabilities have also improved. Fighters serving in Syria聽use thermal imaging cameras to monitor rebel movements聽and prepare ambushes, including聽one in February聽that killed 175 rebel fighters near Otaiba, east of Damascus. It聽has built a few dozen training camps across the Bekaa Valley in recent years to process the steady influx of new recruits.

But the most significant change may be the crucial combat experience Hezbollah's cadres have gained from fighting in Syria's war on behalf of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.聽Hezbollah is credited with helping turn the tide against the rebel forces in the past year, granting Mr. Assad the confidence to hold a presidential election last week that saw him earn his third seven-year term in office in a poll widely derided by the Syrian opposition and the West.

鈥淚ran is investing a lot in Hezbollah in Syria.... Hezbollah is involved up to their necks in it,鈥� Gantz said.

It is聽fortunate for Israel聽that Hezbollah's attention is divided between domestic politics, military preparations against Israel, and its intervention in Syria, Gantz said. Fear of a damaging war has served as a mutual deterrence.

鈥淗ezbollah is like a state and they know exactly what is going to happen in Lebanon if they start a war with us, and that this would set Lebanon back decades,鈥� he said.

Despite that, tensions rose in February and March after an Israeli airstrike on a Hezbollah facility in the Bekaa Valley. The target was a 2,450-sq.-ft. utility building, possibly a temporary arms storage facility, beside a track used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons into Lebanon from neighboring Syria, according to comparisons of satellite imagery on Google Earth.

It was the first Israeli air attack against Hezbollah in Lebanon since 2006. In response, Hezbollah detonated a roadside bomb against Israeli troops on Lebanon鈥檚 southern border. It is also thought responsible for staging three other attacks against soldiers in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, wounding four.