THE LEADER of Iran-backed group Hezbollah has issued a disturbing warning to Israel in a new video online.
The footage shows Israel’s main airport and one of its nuclear bases with targets focused above them, as the Hezbollah leader threatens war.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatens war against Israel in chilling new propaganda video
Hezbollah fighters training in the Lebanese village of Aaramta
Hezbollah’s video appears to show the Israeli Dimona nuclear base under a target
Ben Gurion airport also seemed to feature in the chilling clip
Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group that supports Hamas, has attacks against Israel since war broke out in October last year.
In recent weeks tit-for-tat skirmishes across the border have worsened and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has now threatened a war with “no restraints”.
In a disturbing threat he said Israel should be “scared” and told the world they had “new weapons” ready to go.
Nasrallah said: “In case an inclusive war is imposed on Lebanon, The Resistance will fight without restraints, without rules, without limits.”
The video then pans to a satellite view of Israel, zooming in on different key locations as targets.
One of them appears to be Israel’s nuclear plant at Dimona – an incredibly dangerous target.
If it was struck by a missile, for example, it could cause a radiation leak like Chernobyl.
Mark Almond, Director of the Crisis Research Institute, Oxford, previously wrote in The Sun how an attack on that base could spiral.
He said “Israel might see it as in effect a nuclear strike, and hit back with its actual nuclear warheads.
“That is the worst case scenario.”
Another is Ben Gurion Airport – an area that would surely be crammed with civilians and tourists at the time of a strike.
The propaganda video is doubtlessly designed to scare people and officials in Israel who are fending off attacks at their northern border – and launching attacks in Lebanon.
It comes after Taleb Abdullah was killed in an Israeli strike – the most senior Hezbollah commander to be taken out since October.
Planet Labs Inc. Via APA satellite image of the Dimona nuclear base in Israel[/caption]
Planet Labs Inc. Via APStriking the Dimona nuclear site – where Israel produces plutonium – could be incredibly dangerous[/caption]
Israeli soldiers near Kibbutz Ortal in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights near the Lebanon border
Israel’s Defence Forces (IDF) have already been gearing up for a possible invasion by Hezbollah – and preparing to defend against one – for some time.
And officials say they are prepared to go to war with Hezbollah – but the country is already embroiled in a conflict where tens of thousands of people have died in the Gaza Strip.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, has promised that a decision on “all-out war” with the group is coming soon.
Professor Asher Kaufman told The Sun that Israeli forces are now more focused on tackling the Iran-backed threat in Lebanon than defeating Hamas.
Kaufman, from the KROC Institute for International Peace Studies, investigates the border dynamics between Israel and Lebanon – where the Hezbollah militant group is based.
He warned us that a war between Hezbollah and Israel would be “catastrophic” as neither side would limit civilian casualties.
We can assume that if there is a war between Israel and Hezbollah, then you would see massive casualties on both sides of the border in Lebanon and in Israel
Professor Asher Kaufman
Kaufman said: “If there is a war between Israel and Hezbollah, it would be an all-out war that would involve both countries, both societies, civilians included.
“It could involve other countries such as Iran, the Houthis in Yemen, it could drag the United States in too.
“It would be really, really devastating.
“We can assume that if there is a war between Israel and Hezbollah, then you would see massive casualties on both sides of the border in Lebanon and in Israel.
“Israel and Hezbollah will not protect civilians on the other side. Israel will target civilians, Hezbollah will target civilians if there is a war.”
Israel is thought to have around seven nuclear sites, with Dimona working in plutonium production and other processes needed to build the weapons.
Built out in empty desert around 55 miles south of Jerusalem, the Dimona was kept secret from even Israel’s greatest ally – the US – for years.
Although the country’s exact arsenal is unclear, Israel likely posses enough material for at least 80 bombs, AP reports.
They could be delivered by land-based ballistic missiles, fighter jets or submarines.
Hezbollah is a more developed than Hamas – it is thought to have 30,000 to 50,000 fighters and between 120,000 and 200,000 missiles, rockets, attack and reconnaissance drones.
A war between them and Israel could drag in Iran and its other proxies – like the Houthis in Yemen.
Iran has also been known to release disturbing propaganda videos to antagonise the West.
A video shared on state-controlled Iranian TV showed fake footage of the US capitol being blown up by an enemy missile.
Hezbollah has threatened a nuclear site in Israel (pictured: a generated nuclear explosion image)
