Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — Israel has determined that the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah acquired an advanced Russian cruise missile.

Israel Navy officers said Hizbullah has received the P-800 coastal defense system sold by Russia to Syria.

The officers said Hizbullah was believed to have already deployed the Yakhont cruise missile, with a range of 300 kilometers and capable of striking Israel’s entire Mediterranean coast.

“We assume that advanced Yakhont missiles have also reached the hands of Hizbullah, and we are preparing for that,” Rear Adm. Eli Sharvit, commander of the naval base in Haifa, said.

On Feb. 24, the Lebanese and Syrian opposition sources reported an Israeli air strike on Hizbullah along the Lebanese border with Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Israeli target was a Hizbullah missile base, and several people were killed.

“The missile base participated in military operations in the area of
Qalamoun in Syria near the Lebanese border,” Syrian Observatory said.
The Israeli officers said Hizbullah deployed Yakhont in
2013 about a year after the Syrian Navy received the P-800. They said
repeated Israeli efforts to block the delivery of the weapon from Syria to
Lebanon were partially successful.

In August 2013, the United States reported an Israel Air Force strike
during the previous month that targeted a Syrian military warehouse near the
port city of Latakia. The U.S. Defense Department assessed that the Israeli
target was the Yakhont missile arsenal, which officials determined was not
destroyed.

“Hizbullah is a highly functional organization, active in its sector,”
Sharvit told a briefing on Feb. 25. “It continues to arm itself with
strategic weapons, and has not stopped trying to get its hands on
weapons that will influence [future warfare].”

The officers said the navy was being trained and equipped to foil the
Hizbullah or Syrian missile threat against Israel. They said Hizbullah could
use Yakhont to attack Israel’s new natural gas facilities in the eastern
Mediterranean.

“The best Iranian and Russian platforms are in the region between
Syria and Lebanon, and Hizbullah’s and the Syrian military’s efforts to grow
stronger do not stop,” Sharvit said. “We are on constant alert to secure our
assets.”

  Israeli Navy reports Hizbullah has acquired and deployed Russian cruise missile, P-800 coastal defense system, Rear Adm. Eli Sharvit, Yakhont cruise missile