JERUSALEM, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that his government remains committed to preventing the transfer of the advanced weaponry to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, local media reported.
"We are acting in accordance with the policy we had set to prevent as much as possible the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah and terror elements," Army Radio quoted Netanyahu as saying.
"The Israeli government is operating in a responsible, determined and level-headed manner in order to ensure the supreme interest of the country, which is the safety of its citizens," he said, vowing to continue "guaranteeing Israel's security interests. "
The remarks came hours after Britain's Sunday Times reported that Syria has placed batteries of its most advanced missiles on standby "with orders to hit Tel Aviv" in the event that Israel launches another attack on its territory.
Hezbollah reportedly possesses its own arsenal of the Syrian- produced Tishreen, known as the M-600, which has a range of more than 200 km and can carry a half-ton warhead each, against central Israel.
Uzi Rubin, a leading Israeli missile expert, told the Sunday Times that Syria has a large stockpile of Tishreen missiles, adding that firing them at Israel could potentially paralyze all commercial flights coming in and out of the country.
Syria's reported preparations to fire at Israel followed the two alleged Israeli airstrikes on Damascus earlier this month that reportedly targeted Iranian shipments of advanced Fateh-110 missiles bound for Hezbollah.
Israel did not officially acknowledge carrying out the strikes, but unnamed Israeli officials were quoted in foreign media outlets as confirming its involvement.
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