Hezbollah could blockade sea in future war

Israel is concerned that in a war with Hezbollah, the Lebanese guerrilla group will try to blockade Israel by attacking civilian cargo ships. Israel’s sea lines of communication span the length of the Mediterranean Sea and around the Magreb region of North Africa, with 99 percent of all goods arriving in the country by sea, including ammunition and military hardware.

Navy assessments are that Hezbollah will try to attack cargo ships within a 30-kilometer radius of Israel, in an effort to get commercial vessels to refuse to sail there during a war.

During the Second Lebanon War in July 2006, Hezbollah fired a missile at the INS Hanit corvette, killing four sailors and causing extensive damage. Another missile sunk a nearby cargo freighter.

"Hezbollah has already proven that it can fire missiles, so the operational capability exists as does the readiness to act,” a senior navy officer said.
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