Hezbollah Warns: Haifa and Tel Aviv Next Targets

A senior Hezbollah official threatened that any renewed Israeli strikes in Beirut’s Dahiyeh neighborhood would be answered with expanded fire toward Haifa and Tel Aviv.

The warning came two days after US President Donald Trump reportedly blocked a planned Israeli strike in Dahiyeh, increasing tensions between Washington and Jerusalem over the scope of Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Mahmoud Qamati, deputy head of Hezbollah’s political council, told Al-Araby that Hezbollah rejects what he called a “failed equation” under which Israel would avoid striking Dahiyeh in exchange for a halt to Hezbollah fire on northern Israel.

“The equation of Dahiyeh in exchange for communities in the north cannot pass in any way,” Qamati said. “It cannot be that fire toward the north will stop in exchange for Dahiyeh not being attacked. The campaign is ongoing, and the horizon is open.”

Qamati warned that if Israel renews attacks on Dahiyeh, Beirut or other areas that have recently remained outside the main circle of strikes, Hezbollah would respond by widening the target range.

“The Israeli enemy must know that if it decides to renew its aggression against Dahiyeh, Beirut and the areas that remained outside the circle of attacks in the recent period, and expands its attacks, it must take into account that the equation will become Dahiyeh and Beirut against Haifa and Tel Aviv,” he said.

He added that a strike on Dahiyeh would not be answered only with fire toward northern communities, but with attacks on “deeper and more significant targets.”

The threats followed Israeli statements about a new deterrence formula. Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel had created an equation under which “the rule for Dahiyeh in Beirut is the same as the rule for communities in northern Israel.” According to Katz, around 600,000 residents left Dahiyeh after IDF evacuation warnings.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir criticized the government’s restraint and called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to say no to Trump. He argued that Israel must strike Hezbollah harder, free the hands of IDF soldiers and restore security to the north.

Hezbollah’s latest threats come as fighting in southern Lebanon continues and Israel weighs how far to expand its campaign without triggering a broader confrontation with both Beirut and Washington.