'Be Careful', Netanyahu Warns Hizbullah, Iran on Lebanon 'Missile Plants'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said Israel “will not stand idly by” regarding alleged efforts by Iran and Hizbullah to produce precision-guided missiles in Lebanon, warning them to “be careful.”

“Today we unveiled a part of Iran and Hizbullah’s precision-guided missile project. We are determined to foil it,” Netanyahu said in a tweet on his Arabic-language Twitter account.

“The publication is aimed at clarifying that we will not stand idly by and will not allow our enemies to obtain lethal weapons to be used against us. I told them this week to be cautious about their actions and today I tell them: ‘Be careful,’” the Israeli premier added.

Earlier in the day, Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said Israel has detected an "intensified" effort by Iran and Hizbullah to establish missile-production facilities in Lebanon. He released the names of four officials, led by an Iranian brigadier general, allegedly leading the effort.

Netanyahu first accused Hizbullah of setting up secret rocket factories last year, claiming in a speech before the U.N. General Assembly that the group had them near Beirut airport, hiding them among civilians.

The Lebanese government denounced his statements at the time and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil took dozens of ambassadors and diplomats on a tour of locations near the airport to dispel the allegations.

Britain’s The Times newspaper had reported Tuesday that a suspected Israeli drone attack on a Hizbullah site in Beirut’s southern suburbs targeted “crates believed to contain machinery to mix high-grade propellant for precision guided missiles.”

The incident marked the first such "hostile action" in Lebanon since a 2006 war between Hizbullah and Israel, the party's chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Sunday, vowing retaliation. The incident also came hours after Israel said it bombed Iranian posts in Syria to thwart a drone attack on northern Israel.

Nasrallah said two Hizbullah fighters were killed in Israel’s Syria strike, threatening a response from Lebanon. Israel has suggested that the two Lebanese young men who were killed in the raid were drone experts operating within Iran’s Quds Force under General Qassem Soleimani.

Israel did not claim responsibility for the drone attack in Hizbullah’s bastion in Beirut’s southern suburbs but Netanyahu said Monday that Israel was ready to use "all means necessary" to defend itself against Iranian threats "on several fronts."