Report: Hezbollah rearming, says 'Israelis coming soon'

Senior Hezbollah commanders told The Guardian that the Shiite group is rapidly rearming in preparation for a new war with Israel, fearing that the Jewish state will attack Lebanon again prior to any attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

"Sure, we are rearming, we have even said that we have far more rockets and missiles than we did in 2006," one of the commanders was quoted by the British daily as saying.

The Shiite group denied that the Iranian arms shipment intercepted by Israel Navy commandos last week was bound for its forces in Lebanon.

Military sources said Thursday that the 36 containers found aboard the Francop vessel, which was seized off the coast of Cyprus, contained more than 2,000 107mm and 122mm rockets, and over 3,000 106mm shells.

The IDF also recovered 9,000 mortar shells, some 20,000 grenades and over 500,000 AK-47 compatible bullets.

In its report, published Sunday, the Guardian said it has learned that Hezbollah fighters have been busy reinforcing fixed defense positions north of the Litani River.

"Having lost many of its bunkers in the south during the 2006 war with Israel, Hezbollah is preparing a new strategy to defend villages there," the report said.

The Hezbollah commander told the newspaper, "We had to blow up or leave some of our bunkers and fighting positions, but we still have plenty of capabilities in the south. We expect the Israelis to come soon, if not this winter, then they will wait until spring, when the ground isn't too soft for their tanks."

According to a military expert on Hezbollah at the Center for New American Security, "It's clear that Hezbollah no longer controls the border, due to the presence of UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) troops.

"They appear to be hardening the villages for this next round of fighting, while pushing their fixed positions north away from UNIFIL to protect the approaches to Beirut and the Bekaa Valley," Andrew Exum told the Guardian.