19 June 2024 , 10:04
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A video released by Hezbollah showing Israeli military and civilian locations has prompted threats of “all-out war” from Israel's foreign minister.
The nine-minute clip, which appears to be taken by a drone, shows a number of civilian and military areas in several Israeli cities. The video, which was reportedly captured over several hours or days, shows a number of locations around Haifa including two military installations, the port of Haifa, and an oil storage facility along with civilian areas.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz released a statement on X (formerly Twitter ) saying: “We are getting very close to the moment of deciding to change the rules of the game against Hezbollah and Lebanon.” He added: “In an all-out war, Hezbollah will be destroyed, and Lebanon severely beaten”.
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The video, reportedly shot from a drone, also shows residential areas (AlMayadeenNews)The footage was released on Tuesday (June 18) and follows months of rising cross-border tension between Hezbollah and Israel in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attacks and ensuing IDF attack on Gaza. The video, which purportedly shows military targets such as Iron Dome batteries, missile storage areas and radar emplacements as well as a complex near Haifa belonging to Israeli weapons manufacturer Rafael, is the first in a series, Hezbollah has said.
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“This is what the party [Hezbollah] announced and you saw, but what is hidden is greater and greater and greater! Haifa and beyond, beyond, and beyond Haifa,” Ibrahim Mousawi, a Hezbollah lawmaker in the Lebanese parliament, said in a post. The message appears to be a reference to the phrase coined by Nasrallah during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, when the militant group would fire rockets at Haifa "and beyond Haifa".
Since October 7 Hezbollah has fired more than 5,000 rockets, missiles and drones at northern Israel, it says in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Meanwhile, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Lebanon.
Hezbollah has claimed the video is the first in a series (Alma)More than 90,000 Lebanese living close to the Israeli border have fled their homes while approximately 60,000 Israelis have been evacuated on their side. The video was described as “psychological terror” by Haifa’s mayor Yona Yahav, who demanded “a military solution to eliminate the threat posed from the north,” speaking on Israeli radio station Reshet Bet.
The video release came as the IDF released a statement saying it had “approved and validated” operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon and will boost readiness of troops. US special envoy Amos Hochstein visited Israel and Lebanon this week to try and ease tensions and avoid and all-out war in the region.
Plans for an offensive in Lebanon were approved by the commanding officer of the Northern Command and head of the Operations Directorate during a joint situational assessment to prepare for the continuation of combat, the IDF said in a statement. Approval of operational plans doesn't mean that war is imminent between Israel and Hezbollah, however, it is a sign that Israel intends to be ready if such a scenario were to arise.