Israel warns Lebanon of prospect of ‘all-out war’ after Hezbollah publishes video of Israeli military and civilian sites

Friday, June 21, 2024 - Israel has warned militant group, Hezbollah of the prospect of an “all-out war” after the Lebanese militant group published a 9-minute video, purportedly taken by a drone, showing Israeli military and civilian locations in several Israeli cities.

“We are getting very close to the moment of deciding to change the rules of the game against Hezbollah and Lebanon,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement on X.

“In an all-out war, Hezbollah will be destroyed, and Lebanon severely beaten,” he added.

The Hezbollah footage, filmed in the daytime, shows Krayot, a cluster of “highly populated” residential cities north of the Israeli city of Haifa and 28 km (17 miles) south of the Lebanese border, along with malls and high rises.

Also, a military complex near Haifa belonging to Israeli weapons manufacturer Rafael – including Iron Dome batteries, missile storage sites and radar sites and military boats, ships and oil storage depots in the port of Haifa were shown in the footage.

Hezbollah has claimed the video was the “first episode,” suggesting more videos would surface from deep inside Israeli territory.

The publication of the video follows months of intensifying cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israel in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attacks.

In response to the video's publication mayor of Haifa, Yona Yahav, has described the video as “psychological terror” and demanded a protection plan for his city.

“I demand that the government present a plan for the massive defence of Haifa and find a military solution to eliminate the threat posed from the north,” Yahav told Israeli radio station Reshet Bet.