Israeli Army: Hezbollah Owns 210-Km Range Missiles

Hezbollah displays an Iranian-made Fajr 5 missile at a military parade in southern Lebanon. (AFP)
Hezbollah displays an Iranian-made Fajr 5 missile at a military parade in southern Lebanon. (AFP)
TT
20

Israeli Army: Hezbollah Owns 210-Km Range Missiles

Hezbollah displays an Iranian-made Fajr 5 missile at a military parade in southern Lebanon. (AFP)
Hezbollah displays an Iranian-made Fajr 5 missile at a military parade in southern Lebanon. (AFP)

Lebanon’s Hezbollah owns more than 100,000 rockets and missiles of various types, the Israeli Army said in a report published on Sunday.

It revealed that the Lebanese party has expanded its rocket arsenal since the 2006 war and remains the closest threat to the Israeli regime's internal front.

The report was published at the end of Israel’s largest military drills, dubbed Chariots of Fire, and which simulate a scenario of war operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, including a ground invasion.

It said the number of missiles in Hezbollah's missile arsenal has increased dramatically since the second war against Lebanon in 2006, when the group possessed around 15,000 rockets and missiles, firing nearly 4,000 at Israel over the 34-day conflict.

The report revealed that most of Hezbollah's rockets and missiles arsenal consists of Katyusha missiles, weighting 20 kg with a range of 40 km, adding that on the eve of the 2006 war, the Shiite party owned between 6 and 7 thousands similar missiles, mostly provided by Iran.

Also, the group owns the Fajr 3 missile, with a range of 43 km and a warhead weighing 45 kg, and the more advanced Fajr 5 missile, with a range of 75 km and a warhead weighing 90 kg.

The report added that the Lebanese party possesses the "Raad-2" and "Raad-3" missiles, which are the Iranian version of the Russian "FROG-7" missile, capable of targeting the depths of Israel.

It said Hezbollah and Iran are trying to increase the accuracy of advanced missiles, such as the Zelzal-1 missile, which has a range of 125 to 160 kilometers and a warhead weighing 600 kg, and the Zelzal-2, with a range of 210 km and a warhead weighing 600 kg.

Hezbollah's missile arsenal also includes the Fateh-110 missile, a short-range ballistic missile that appears to be a different version of Zelzal-2, with a range of 250 to 300 km and a warhead weighing 500 kg.

The Israeli Maariv newspaper said on Sunday that Hezbollah is preparing for the next war with 1,500 missiles landing in Israel per day, estimating that 300 Israelis are likely to be killed in the first nine days of fighting.

The report came while the Israeli army revealed that its soldiers stationed on the northern border fired warning shots and drove away a group of Lebanese who approached the joint border fence.

A military source said that the Lebanese were seen suspiciously approaching the security fence separating the two countries, with the intention of crossing the border. It added that the Lebanese then stopped and returned back.



At Least 51 Palestinians Killed While Waiting for Aid Trucks in Gaza, Health Officials Say 

Smoke billows amid reported building detonations by Israeli forces to the east and north of Jabalia city in the northern Gaza Strip at dawn on June 17, 2025. (AFP)
Smoke billows amid reported building detonations by Israeli forces to the east and north of Jabalia city in the northern Gaza Strip at dawn on June 17, 2025. (AFP)
TT
20

At Least 51 Palestinians Killed While Waiting for Aid Trucks in Gaza, Health Officials Say 

Smoke billows amid reported building detonations by Israeli forces to the east and north of Jabalia city in the northern Gaza Strip at dawn on June 17, 2025. (AFP)
Smoke billows amid reported building detonations by Israeli forces to the east and north of Jabalia city in the northern Gaza Strip at dawn on June 17, 2025. (AFP)

At least 51 Palestinians were killed and more than 200 wounded in the Gaza Strip while waiting for UN and commercial trucks to enter the territory with desperately needed food, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry and a local hospital. 

Palestinian witnesses told The Associated Press that Israeli forces carried out an airstrike on a nearby home before opening fire toward the crowd in the southern city of Khan Younis. The military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

It did not appear to be related to a new Israeli- and US-supported aid delivery network that rolled out last month and has been marred by controversy and violence. 

‘Aren’t we human beings?’  

Youssef Nofal, an eyewitness, said he saw many people motionless and bleeding on the ground after Israeli forces opened fire. "It was a massacre," he said, adding that the soldiers continued firing on people as they fled from the area. 

Mohammed Abu Qeshfa said he heard a loud explosion followed by heavy gunfire and tank shelling. "I survived by a miracle," he said. 

The dead and wounded were taken to the city's Nasser Hospital, which confirmed the toll. 

Samaher Meqdad was at the hospital looking for her two brothers and a nephew who had been in the crowd. 

"We don’t want flour. We don’t want food. We don’t want anything," she said. "Why did they fire at the young people? Why? Aren’t we human beings?" 

Palestinians say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire on crowds trying to reach food distribution points run by a separate US and Israeli-backed aid group since the centers opened last month. Local health officials say scores have been killed and hundreds wounded. 

In those instances, the Israeli military has acknowledged firing warning shots at people it said had approached its forces in a suspicious manner. 

Desperation grows 

Israel says the new system operated by a private contractor, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, is designed to prevent Hamas from siphoning off aid to fund its activities. 

UN agencies and major aid groups deny there is any major diversion of aid and have rejected the new system, saying it can't meet the mounting needs in Gaza and that it violates humanitarian principles by allowing Israel to control who has access to aid. 

Experts have warned of famine in the territory that is home to some 2 million Palestinians. 

The UN-run network has delivered aid across Gaza throughout the 20-month Israel-Hamas war, but has faced major obstacles since Israel loosened a total blockade it had imposed from early March until mid-May. 

UN officials say Israeli military restrictions, a breakdown of law and order, and widespread looting make it difficult to deliver the aid that Israel has allowed in. 

Israel’s military campaign since October 2023 has killed over 55,300 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Its count doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants. 

Israel launched its campaign aiming to destroy Hamas after the group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which gunmen killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking another 251 hostage. The fighters still hold 53 hostages, fewer than half of them alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.