Hezbollah Leader Threatens Areas Previously Spared As Tension Ramps Up

Wires have been carrying comments from Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivering an address as the prospect of all-out war with Israel remains a pressing threat to regional security. Nasrallah says that, "If [Israel] persist in targeting our civilians, [Hezbollah] will launch rockets and target settlements that have not been previously attacked".

• This morning has seen a barrage of at least 15 Hezbollah rockets targeting cities on Israel's northern coastline intercepted by Israeli forces while 85 rockets were firedat towns in Galilee. Comes after Israeli jets targeted villages in southern Lebanon with missiles on the night of 16 July, with Lebanese state media claiming three Syrian children were killed in the strikes.
• The tit-for-tat strikes began to escalate from 8 October, the day after Hamas' attack on Israel, but have ramped up in recent weeks and months to the point where direct military conflict is a real possibility.
• Given Hezbollah's estimated military strength - the BBC reports an arsenal of "more than 150,000 rockets and missiles - some precision-guided - capable of inflicting heavy damage around the country" - such a war would carry on longer than the still-ongoing Gaza conflict and risk significant damage to Israeli infrastructure.
• The Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza has been largely self-contained, whereas an Israel-Hezbollah conflict would risk a wider region conflagration. There is the potential of Iran becoming directly involved, as well as Hezbollah strikes on Israeli O&G infrastructure in the Mediterranean and a re-escalation in Houthi strikes on Israeli-linked shipping.