Minister: If Hezbollah fires rockets at Israel, Lebanon will be razed

Responding to Nasrallah threats, Yisrael Katz says if attacked, Israel would return Lebanon to Stone Age and bury Shiite leader under the rocks

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz warned Tuesday that Israel was prepared to completely eviscerate Lebanon in response to any cross-border missile attack by Hezbollah.

Katz (Likud) was responding to a fiery speech by the Shiite group’s head Hassan Nasrallah earlier in the day in which the extremist leader claimed that his organization’s rockets can hit anywhere in Israel and threatened to target the country’s sea ports and main airport in the next conflict.

“In order to avoid any doubt on the matter, Nasrallah the cowardly braggart should know this: that option does not exist for us!,” Katz wrote on his official Facebook page (Hebrew).

“If such a scenario does materialize, we will raze Lebanon to the ground! We will return it to the Stone Age and bury [Nasrallah] under the rocks.”

Heavy barrage of rockets fired at Tel Aviv area, southern Israel

Hamas says it fired 40 rockets, claims responsibility for firing M-75 and Fajr-5 rockets at central Israel, J-80 missile at Ben Gurion Airport.

A heavy barrage of rockets was fired at Israel on Tuesday night, ar around 10:40pm. Loud explosions were heard in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, while Code Red sirens blared throughout southern and central Israel.

Hamas said it fired 40 rockets at Israel. Among them, two hit open areas in the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council, four more in open areas in the Eshkol Regional Council, and five hit open areas in the Be’er Sheva area.

Gaza conflict: Is US pressuring Israel with airport ban?

Washington: The US denies that a ban on US airliners flying to Tel Aviv and a stark US travel warning are ploys to push Israel to agree a Gaza truce.

“I would wholly disagree with that argument,” deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said, when asked if the two directives were a political move to put pressure on Israelis.

“We issued travel warnings because one of our top priorities is protecting US citizens overseas,” she told reporters on Tuesday.

Iranian simulation: Missiles on Ben Gurion – While Geneva talks make progress towards agreement, Iranian state television broadcast simulated missile attack on Israel

An agreement between the United States and Iran over the latter’s nuclear program seems imminent, but the charm offensive in Geneva is not mirrored at home. In Tehran, the Iranian government sent a different message with a broadcast on state television of a simulated missile attack on Israel.