JERUSALEM (AFP) – Syria's government routinely ships weapons to Lebanon's Shiite militia Hezbollah in an operation that goes well beyond sporadic smuggling, a top Israeli intelligence officer said on Tuesday.The head of the military intelligence research department, Brigadier General Yossi Baidatz, told a parliamentary committee that Hezbollah's arsenal included thousands of rockets of all ranges and types, some solid-fuelled. Baidatz did not specifically name the long-range Scud missiles which Israeli President Shimon Peres has accused Hezbollah of stockpiling, but appeared to allude to Peres' warnings.
"The shipments of long-range missiles which have been reported recently are only the tip of the iceberg," Baidatz told the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee.
"Syria has a significant role in the growing strength of Hezbollah's rocket arsenal," he said. "Weapons are sent to Hezbollah from Syria on a regular basis under the direction of the Syrian and Iranian regimes."
Hezbollah has not confirmed or denied the Scud allegations, saying only that it has the right to possess any weapon it chooses.
On Monday, President Barack Obama renewed US sanctions on Syria for a year, accusing Damascus of supporting "terrorist" groups and pursuing missile programs and weapons of mass destruction. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last week about the risks of sparking a regional war if he supplied long-range Scud missiles to Hezbollah.