Syria has defied Israel's caution that handing over new strategic weapons to the Lebanese Hizballah would compel Israel to strike targets inside Syria. debkafile's military sources disclose that Damascus has just smuggled across the border a number of Russian-made IGLA-S surface-to-air missiles capable of intercepting low-flying F-16 warplanes, drones, helicopters, cruise missiles, transports and surveillance aircraft in all weather conditions, by day or night.
Tuesday, March 2,  the head of the research division of Israeli Military Intelligence, Brig. Gen. Yossi Beidetz, reported to the Knesset foreign affairs and security committee that Syria had smuggled to Hizballah strategic weaponry more sophisticated that it had ever dared transfer before.
Beidetz did not specify the type of missiles, but our US sources disclosed he was referring to the advanced Russian IGLA 9K338, a shoulder-mounted missile which poses a threat to low-flying aircraft and other flying projectiles in all weather conditions. Its other prime asset is that it is virtually impossible to jam its launch and trajectory with electronic counter-measures.