JERUSALEM, 20 July 2006 — Israel’s efforts to crush Hezbollah are being hindered by its lack of air force bombs capable of penetrating the Lebanese group’s command bunkers, a leading Israeli military expert said yesterday.
Israel has been shelling Lebanon’s infrastructure since Hezbollah killed eight of its soldiers and abducted another two last week. Close to 300 people, the vast majority of them civilians, have died while Hezbollah has kept fighting on.
Alon Ben-David, Israel analyst for Jane’s Defense Weekly, said that while the Israeli air force was stemming some of the cross-border rocket fire by Hezbollah, it was failing in its bid to track and kill guerrilla commanders who have gone to ground.
“Many of the Hezbollah leaders are in underground bunkers, and Israel does not have the ordnance to reach them,” Ben-David told Reuters. “It could well be holding up the offensive.” Hezbollah is known to have buried some of its arms caches, but there is no confirmation that its commanders are in bunkers.
Israel asked the United States in 2004 to sell it airborne “bunker-buster” bombs in what security sources said was part of preparations for a possible strike on arch-foe Iran’s fortified nuclear facilities.
Pentagon approval for the sale of 100 of the GBU-28 bombs came through last year. But Israel’s Defense Ministry, amid steep budget cuts, said it decided against making the purchase.
Ben-David said an Israeli arms firm was designing its own, lighter version of the GBU-28, which weighs 5,000 lb (2,272 kg) and can penetrate some 20 feet (7 meters) of concrete. But the Israeli model has not yet passed the prototype stage, he said.
“There are smaller bombs in use against fortified targets, but these have only limited effectiveness for bunkers,” he said.
