Barak: Hizbullah has 20,000 rockets

Source: Daily Star, 28-8-2007
“Israeli” Defense (War) Minister Ehud Barak claimed Tuesday that Hizbullah has some 20,000 rockets in its arsenal, significantly more than it did before a war with “Israel” last year. "Hizbullah is continuing its rearmament process. Hizbullah today has more medium- and long-range rockets than it had before the start of the war," a Barak aide quoted the minister as telling lawmakers behind closed doors.
"It has also obtained a considerable number of anti-tank rockets," of the kind that proved deadly against “Israeli” tanks during the 34-day war.
Yuval Steinitz, a member of the committee, claimed the number of rockets represented a 40 to 50-percent increase over the rocket figure before last summer`s war.
The rockets are located far from the border with “Israel”, north of the Litani River but within striking range of “Israel”, Barak told the parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Defense (War) Committee, according to participants in the closed meeting.
An MP at Parliament`s defense and foreign affairs committee meeting, before which Barak testified, quoted the minister as saying the rearmament was taking place out of reach of the UNIFIL force based in Southern Lebanon.
"Hizbullah`s new arsenal is located north of the Litani [river] and south of the Zahrani river," the lawmaker told reporters standing outside.
The UN peacekeeping force, only deployed south of the Litani, mainly monitors the separation of forces following the war, helps Lebanon`s armed forces deploy in the border area and ensures aid reaches civilians.
During the 34-day war in the summer of 2006, and “Israeli” land and air assaults caused heavy damage to Lebanese towns and neighborhoods, Hizbullah retaliated by firing almost 4,000 rockets at northern “Israel”.
The UN-brokered cease-fire that ended the war expanded UNIFIL, the international peacekeeping force in South Lebanon, to 13,000 troops, entrusting it with ensuring that Hizbullah is not rearming near the “Israeli” border.
Meanwhile, “Israeli” officials said on Monday that “Israel’s” government has implemented all the recommendations of an inquiry panel into last year`s war on tackling crises more effectively.
The Winograd Commission said in a scathing interim report released in May that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had acted impulsively in going to war against Hizbullah after it captured two “Israeli” soldiers in July 2006.
It proposed the government give greater weight to advice from the National Security Council, which is comprised of defense experts, and improve coordination on diplomatic issues with the Foreign Ministry.
Government officials said the recommendations, including the establishment of a National Center for Crisis Management that would operate within the Prime Minister`s Office during emergencies, have been put into effect.
Giora Eiland, a retired major general and former head of the National Security Council, predicted that despite the commission`s advice, the prime minister and a small clutch of aides would still be the real decision-makers in wartime.
"This haphazard situation will go on," he told “Israel” Radio.
The Winograd Commission, which stopped short of demanding Olmert`s resignation in its interim report, is expected to release its final findings within months.
“Israel’s” defense (war) minister and military chief of staff during last year`s war have quit in response to public criticism of the way the conflict was waged.