Israel releases images alleging Hezbollah missile project in Beirut

A handout picture released from the Israel Defence Forces on September 27, 2018. REUTERS/GPO/Handout via Reuters

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The Israeli military on Thursday released a video clip and photos of what it said were Hezbollah Shi’ite militia rocket building sites in Lebanon.

The images were distributed minutes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the U.N. General Assembly that Israel had evidence that Iran was helping Hezbollah give its missiles precision-guided accuracy.

A handout picture released from the Israel Defence Forces on September 27, 2018. REUTERS/GPO/Handout via Reuters

A handout picture released from the Israel Defence Forces on September 27, 2018. REUTERS/GPO/Handout via Reuters

“In Lebanon, Iran is directing Hezbollah to build secret sites to convert inaccurate projectiles into precision-guided missiles,

missiles that can target deep inside Israel within an accuracy of 10

meters (yards),” he said.

Reuters was not immediately able to verify the Israeli assertions in Netanyahu’s speech and in the five photographs and the 76-second clip released by the Israel Defence Forces.

The clip refers to a “Missile Accuracy Project (MAP)” which Israel said Hezbollah had tried to transfer “to the heart of the city of Beirut.”

The Israeli military said the deployment of the facilities close to Beirut international airport were “knowingly jeopardizing the Lebanese civilian population.”

A handout picture released from the Israel Defence Forces on September 27, 2018. REUTERS/GPO/Handout via Reuters

A handout picture released from the Israel Defence Forces on September 27, 2018. REUTERS/GPO/Handout via Reuters

In Beirut, Hezbollah’s media officer Muhammad Afif declined to comment on the report.

(Writing by Ori Lewis, Editing by William Maclean)