Good News: Hizbollah arsenal has tripled in size

You can thank the UN. Telegraph

In a rare speech to a full parliament in Jerusalem, Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, said that Hizbollah's rearmament programme meant the group now has three times the number of rockets it had in the run-up to the 2006 Lebanon war.

"The firepower of Hizbollah has grown threefold since the Second Lebanon War," said Mr Barak.

"It has missiles that can reach the towns of Ashkelon, Beersheba and Dimona [in southern Israel more than 125 miles from the Lebanese border].

"Today Hizbollah has 42,000 missiles."

The figures supported claims made by Sheikh Nabil Kaouk, a Hizbollah commander, in an interview with The Telegraph in August, when he said the group had built up its military arsenal significantly.

Israel has also indicated that the recent integration of Hizbollah into the Lebanese government has changed the thinking of Israeli military commanders.

Israeli commanders have warned that the integration would justify attacks on government infrastructure in Lebanon in the event of another clash with Hizbollah.