Analysis Both sides know the perils of all-out conflict

A warning from Israel's foreign minister, Israel Katz, that a decision on "all-out war" with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon is coming soon is almost certainly a fresh attempt at deterrence - not least because both sides understand how devastating full hostilities would be.

- Dan Sabbagh

The reality is that Hezbollah, an ally of Iran, is a more powerful adversary than Hamas in Gaza, estimated to have between 30,000 and 50,000 fighters available and a similar number in reserve - plus between 120,000 and 200,000 unguided missiles and rockets plus attack and reconnaissance drones.

Assaf Orion, a former Israel Defence Forces (IDF) brigadier general and now a senior researcher at the INSS thinktank, estimates that Hezbollah has "ten times the arsenal of Hamas", and implies that any conflict would be a similar order of magnitude greater than the grisly battle in Gaza after 7 October.

Katz, speaking on Tuesday, was responding to a nine-minute video of drone footage released by Hezbollah, showing details of military and residential sites in Haifa, 25 to 30 miles away from the border, at least some of which was shot "during the past 72 hours" according to one Israeli assessment.