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Syria, Iran and Hezbollah are working to establish a secret missile factory in the countryside of the Syrian governorate of Tartus, Channel 12 reported on February 7.
The Israeli channel claimed that an organization named “Anas Group” had been created to facilitate the work of the factory by purchasing materials from Italy, China and Asian nations. The factory is supposedly being run by Jamal Said, who is a known figure in the field of missile production in the Middle East, according to the channel.
The secret factory, which is located in the town of Safita, will allegedly turn Hezbollah’s missiles into precision-guided munitions, which can strike positions inside Israel with high accuracy.
By spreading such claims, Israel may be setting the ground to resume its attacks on the Syrian coast, where hundreds of Russian service members are deployed. Israel paused its attacks on the coastal region following the Russian Il-20 incident last year.
Russia will not likely tolerate any new Israeli attack that could endanger its troop in the Syrian coast. Beside two Russian-operated S-400 air-defense systems, the region is also protected by at least one Syrian-operated S-300 system, which was supplied last year.
“With regard to the latest Israeli attacks, we said that such arbitrary attacks on sovereign Syrian territory should be stopped and excluded,” Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said in an interview with Russian media on February 8.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will reportedly visit Moscow later this month to discuss the situation in Syria, among other issues. Netanyahu’s visit will be the first since the IL-20 incident.
