Israeli officials told the US that if Hezbollah’s looming retaliatory attack harms Israeli civilians, then it will suffer a “disproportionate price,” stoking fears of an inevitable two-front war.
As Israel and the US discuss the impending Hezbollah attack to avenge their senior commander who was killed in an Israeli strike last week, two Israeli senior officials warned that escalation would be the only answer if non-combatant’s are hit, Axios reports.
“In the internal discussions with the US, Israel stressed that the cost of another Hezbollah mishap would be heavy and that Hezbollah would pay a disproportionate price if it harmed civilians as part of its retaliation,” one official told the outlet.
The warning came after a Lebanese newspaper affiliated with the Iran-backed terror group warned that Hezbollah will likely target Tel Aviv, where civilians are expected to be caught in the crossfire.
The front-page story suggested such an attack would be appropriate as the Israeli strike that killed Hezbollah senior commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut also led to civilian casualties.
“If Hezbollah can choose targets, it is possible that it will target Tel Aviv and civilians might be harmed on the margins,” Al-Akhbar editor-in-chief Ibrahim al-Amin wrote.
“The effective thing will be to hit a significant center of the organization that made the decision about the assassination and took part in it,” he wrote.
Shukr was targeted for allegedly masterminding a Hezbollah attack last month that led to the death of 12 youths playing in a soccer field in the Golan Heights.
The IDF has long alleged that Hezbollah’s rocket fire has been inaccurate, and a possible attack on the military’s base in the populated city of Tel Aviv could miss and threaten civilians.
The warning from Hezbollah comes as Israel also faces threats from Iran following the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran just a day after Shukr’s death.
Iran has vowed to directly strike Israel, with the Jewish state claiming it was prepared to retaliate and engage in war if necessary.
US officials and leaders across the Middle East have voiced concerns that an escalation between Israel and Iran and its proxies threatens to destabilize the whole region.
Two Israeli sources have told CNN that Hezbollah appears to be acting independently and ready to attack first in the coming days.
