After the IDF announced that it had approved operational plans for an attack on Lebanon, Hezbollah quickly clarified that the Shi'ite terrorist organization is also preparing for the possibility that Israel will declare war on the Cedar State, as reported on Thursday by Lebanese newspaper Elnashra.
According to the report, Hezbollah plans to attack Haifa if Israel expands the fighting and, in the next stage, additional cities, including Tel Aviv.
"It is not by chance that Haifa was included in the equation of the war currently being waged in southern Lebanon," the Lebanese media outlet stated. "This city has been marked by Hezbollah as a target in the event of an expansion of the war. If the Israelis enter into large-scale military confrontations… in the area south and north of Litani, Haifa will be a legitimate target for Hezbollah."
Furthermore, Elnashra also referred to the documentation of targets in the Haifa port area by a Dukhifat UAV.
Tit-for-tat
"Strategic, military, and civilian facilities were scanned, continuing the equation drawn by Hezbollah that destruction will be met with destruction, and civilian casualties will be met with civilian casualties,” Elnashra wrote.
“The drone also scanned a military-industrial facility belonging to Rafael, which is the most dangerous thing the video contained for the Israelis."
Sources quoted in the newspaper warned Israel that Hezbollah has precision missiles capable of hitting these targets. "The footage was evidence for the Israelis that Hezbollah holds a database of strategic Israeli targets," the sources explained, adding that "this was not the drone's first visit, and it will not be the last. It indicates that Hezbollah has eyes inside Israel, which worries the Israelis."
The sources cited in Elnashra presented a possible scenario for the first days of the war, during which Haifa and Tel Aviv would be attacked.
"If Israel makes a decision to expand the war in the south or launch a major military operation in the south, Hezbollah will respond according to the level of escalation, and the vital area in Haifa will be targeted with conventional missiles. To distract the defense systems, the organization will simultaneously attack targets related to the Iron Dome and David’s Sling.
Israel's air defense will be exposed to direct hits, as has happened before. In the next stage, Hezbollah will launch dozens of precision missiles carrying large warheads at specific targets in and around Haifa port." The sources claimed that "Israel has not seen this scenario before and understands it will experience it if it decides to enter into a large-scale war."