BEIRUT — Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah threatened to attack Israeli gas facilities if Israel targets Beirut. 

Nasrallah said Tuesday that his group would bombard the Israeli coastal city of Haifa if a future confrontation escalates.

“Israel knows Hezbollah has missiles and rockets that can strike anywhere in its territory,” he said during a televised address in Beirut to mark the deaths of past leaders. “The inhabitants of Haifa are afraid of an attack… that will lead to the death of tens of thousands of inhabitants out of a population of some 800,000. What does this mean? It means that a few missiles on this ammonia site could have the result of a nuclear bomb.”

He added that Hezbollah, which suffered serious setbacks after wading into the Syrian conflict, is boosting its militant capabilities to face fresh challenges emerging in the region. 

Within hours of Nasrallah’s address, his threat resonated in Israel as Environment Protection Minister Avi Gabbai said the storage facility would be relocated. The ammonia tanks would be moved to the Negev desert within three years. The relocation of the tanks has been under consideration for several years as the residents run high risk of exposure to hazardous gases.

Israel launched a nearly one-month war against Lebanon in summer 2006. U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 established a cessation of hostilities in August of the same year and beefed up the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon.