Illustrative image.
Hezbollah released on June 22 a video showing an array of sensitive military and infrastructure sites across Israel as an all-out war between the two sides seems more likely.
The video included remarks from a recent speech of Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, in which he asserted that “in case an inclusive war is imposed on Lebanon, the resistance will fight without restraints, without rules, without limits.”
“Whoever thinks of war against us will regret it,” the Hezbollah leader noted during the speech, which was one June 19.
The sites depicted in the footage included the Research Center at the Israeli regime’s Dimona nuclear reactor in the Negev Desert, the Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv and Nevatim Air Base, one of the largest in Israel.
Some other important targets were listed as the HaKirya complex in Tel Aviv, which houses the regime’s Ministry of Security besides accommodating its General Staff and many senior military officials, the Ramat David Air Base, Israel’s northernmost such outpost and the Karish Gas Field off Lebanon’s coast.
The Iran-backed group and its allies began launching near-daily attacks from Lebanon against the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in support of the Hamas Movement and other Palestinian armed factions in the Gaza Strip after the outbreak of the Israeli war on the enclave last October.
Earlier this month, the group escalated its attacks. The IDF also approved what it described as “operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon”.
On June 20, CNN reported that the United States is seriously concerned Israel’s air defense systems, including the Iron Dome, would be overwhelmed in the case of an all-out war with Hezbollah.
“We assess that at least some” Iron Dome systems “will be overwhelmed,” a senior official in the administration of President Joe Biden told CNN.
Hezbollah is believed to possess some 150,000 rockets and missiles in addition to thousands of drones that it could use to target sensitive military and infrastructure sites in Israel.
Three U.S. officials told CNN their Israeli counterparts share these concerns and are planning to move systems around Gaza to the north in preparation for a possible offensive against Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, Israeli officials told the U.S. that Iron Dome systems are more likely to be overwhelmed in a scenario where Hezbollah launches a large number of precision-guided weapons, which the Iran-backed group has in its arsenal, CNN reported.
“The fact that we have managed to even hold the front for this long has been a miracle,” a senior U.S. official told the news network. “We’re entering a very dangerous period. Something could start with little warning.”
Israel believes it still has the resources to launch an offensive against Hezbollah, particularly once it wraps up its offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, officials familiar told CNN.
According to the network, U.S. officials have not explicitly told their Israeli counterparts that they oppose an attack against Hezbollah but they have warned that such an offensive could lead to a much larger regional conflict with direct involvement from Iran.
Israeli officials have suggested that they could pull off a blitzkrieg-like attack, but U.S. officials have expressed skepticism that such fighting can be contained.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told an Arab counterpart during his trip to the region last week that Israel appears intent on launching an offensive against Hezbollah nonetheless, a source familiar told CNN.
Israel wants to push Hezbollah forces further north into Lebanon, creating a buffer zone that will allow Israeli residents to return to their homes. Tens of thousands evacuated after Hezbollah began launching repeated attacks on northern border towns last October.
Citing a senior Biden administration official, CNN reported June 22 that the U,S. had reassured Israel it will offer full support in the event a full-scale war with Hezbollah breaks out.
The pledge was made during meetings in Washington this week between National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The official tells CNN that the Biden administration would offer Israel the security assistance it needs. However, the U.S. would not deploy American troops to the ground in such a scenario.
Overall, Israel appears to be serious about launching an offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon and the U.S. will likely provide support. An all-out war between the two sides could create unprecedented tensions in the Middle East and even provoke a dangerous regional confrontation.
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