Israel accuses Iran of planning to tool up in Lebanon with laser-guided missiles

Iran and Hezbollah are working to create laser-guided missiles that could inflict "massive" human casualties in Israel, the Israeli army said on Thursday.

Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said that Hezbollah and Iran were working to convert "stupid rockets into precision-guided missiles", which would mark a massive upgrade in the Lebanese Shia movement's military capabilities.

Hezbollah has an estimated 130,000 rockets, which Conricus said pose "a threat" to Israel but are not accurate.

"However if they are able to produce a precision-guided arsenal... that will create a different and much more dangerous situation," he told journalists, according to AFP.

The Israeli army spokesperson said that Hezbollah was "willing to strike civilians and strategic facilities... in order to create a massive amount of casualties and damage in Israel".

He also added that the Lebanese militia outfit "does not yet have an industrial capability to manufacture precision guided missiles" but is working towards this goal.

Iran attempted to transport precision-guided missiles to Hezbollah in Lebanon through war-torn Syria between 2013 and 2015 but failed due to "Israeli operations". 

Iran and Hezbollah both back Bashar Al-Assad's regime in the Syrian war, with thousands of militants fighting against rebel forces.

Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on Iranian-linked forces in Syria through the war, including over the weekend to "prevent an attack" on Israel.

Israel also struck Lebanon on the weekend with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah saying that an armed drone "hit a specific area".

The Times newspaper said the drones fell near Iranian installations manufacturing fuel for precision missiles.

Israel and Hezbollah have fought a number of war against each other, including in 2006 when the Shia movement fired scores of missiles from Lebanon.