Hezbollah has more than 100,000 rockets in its arsenal, Israeli reserves major general Amos Gilad told the Israeli news website nrg in an exclusive interview Friday.

Gilad, director of the Political Military Affairs Bureau at the Israeli Defense Ministry, also told nrg the Lebanese-based terrorist group has been building up its capacities for naval warfare, including acquiring Russian anti-ship P-800 onyx missiles, also known as the yakhont.

“These missiles can be used against maritime and land targets, but also offshore gas rigs,” Gilad said, referring to Israel’s new and lucrative natural gas infrastructure.

Gilad said Hezbollah was uninterested in attacking Israel at the current time, deterred by Israeli might and bogged down in fighting on behalf of Syrian president Bashar Assad in the Syrian civil war. There, Gilad said, the group has lost hundreds of fighters, echoing a recent Israeli report which suggested up to 1,500 Hezbollah fighters had already died in Syria.

“On the other hand, [Hezbollah] is determined to continue building its forces against us,” said Gilad.

Gilad’s comments came after Israel reportedly assassinated senior Hezbollah operative Samir Kuntar in a precision-guided missile attack on a residential building just outside Damascus. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah vowed revenge.

Gilad said the hidden hand behind Hezbollah’s activities is Iran. He said the group is being directed by Qasem Soleimani, a commander in Iran’s Quds Force, who “travels around the Middle East promoting the affairs of the Iranian Shia empire.”

The Israeli defense official was also pessimistic that the deal signed between Iran and five world powers in July would hinder the country from secret nuclear weapons development.

“The day will come when they’ll build the infrastructure,” he said.

“They’ll do everything to get back to secret operations. Maybe the world pounced on them at first, but because of the nuclear deal they’re enjoying the removal of the economic stranglehold,” he said.

From Algemeiner.