Hizbullah Admits Violating UN SCR 1701 By Getting Scud Missiles From Syria

There have been scattered reports over the past couple of weeks that Hizbullah has obtained Scud missiles from Syria. Today, Hizbullah announced that they indeed obtained the missiles, but goes on to claim that they aren't in working order. Yet, Hizbullah also said that they'd use them and the other missiles in their arsenal if Israel attacked Lebanon.

Hizbullah sources confirmed on Thursday that the group had received a shipment of Scud missiles from Syria, the Kuwaiti paper Al-Rai reported.

But the missiles were old and unusable, according to the sources. Hizbullah also accused Israel of blowing the incident out of proportion to provoke a media ruckus.

“Our organization has many surface-to-surface missiles spread across all of Lebanon, in case Israel attacks the country again,” the Hizbullah sources said.

Despite this confirmation of what Jerusalem has been saying for days, the Syrian Foreign Ministry denied the reports, saying Israel was trying to stoke tensions in the region and could be setting the stage for an Israeli “aggression” to avoid Middle East peace requirements.

Thursday’s Syrian statement came after President Shimon Peres accused Syria of supplying the Lebanese group with Scuds for the first time.

Israeli defense officials also have said they believe Hizbullah has Scud missiles, and that the projectiles could alter the strategic balance with the Islamist group.

Let's remind everyone of what's going on here. The UN, through UNIFIL, is supposed to disarm all militias operating in Southern Lebanon including Hizbullah pursuant to UN SCR 1701.

This is a direct violation of that Security Council resolution, but don't expect anyone to demand compliance. It just isn't going to happen so Israel will have to take matters into its own hands eventually.

Hizbullah started a war in 2006 and subsequently fired thousands of short range missiles into Israel and Israel responded by invading Southern Lebanon to root out the weapons caches that Hizbullah placed in and around civilian areas and even UNIFIL outposts.

A Scud missile is a significant upgrade over the kassam/katuysha missile used since it provides significantly longer range and a higher payload. It is a terror weapon since its guidance systems are anything but accurate. Those firing the missiles merely point it in the general direction of their target and hope that it hits. Such a scenario is more than sufficient to pose a serious threat to Israel, where the bulk of Israel's population is along the Mediterranean coast and on an axis between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Hizbullah's intent is to maximize casualties - both among Israelis and among Lebanese civilians who happen to be living in and around the Hizbullah weapons caches as Hizbullah hopes to maximize the body count for propaganda purposes.