WASHINGTON (JTA) — Israel declassified a map of what it says are 950 underground Hezbollah bunkers and weapons storage sites in south Lebanon.
The map, appearing Wednesday in the Washington Post, underpins Israeli frustration with the failure of the United Nations-mandated force in southern Lebanon to stop weapons smuggling since the end of the 2006 war. Instead, Israeli leaders have said, Hezbollah’s missile strength is far greater than what it was before the war.
Israeli leaders fear what they believe is the recent consolidation of Hezbollah’s dominance of Lebanon’s government, as well as the likelihood that the group will strike against Israel should a U.N. tribunal recommend the prosecution of the group’s leadership for the 2005 assassination of moderate political leader Rafik Hariri.
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