After Hezbollah Leader Nasrallah mentioned Haifa as a potential target for a rocket strike, its residents are worried, according to Zionist regime media.
In the meantime, the Israeli regime is seriously concerned about potential economic impacts of an all-out war with Hezbollah.
The Israeli business newspaper TheMarker said in a report that the port of Haifa in north of the occupied Palestine and a nearby trade gateway will be among Hezbollah’s main targets if an all-out war erupts between the group and the Israeli regime.
The report said authorities in Tel Aviv have been struggling to develop emergency plans on how they can reroute trade to the state-run port of Ashdod, located in the south of the occupied lands.
However, it said importers of food, grains and animal feed are reluctant to use Ashdod, because it has poor infrastructure and facilities.
The Hebrew-language newspaper said that relying on Ashdod will increase the possibility of a major food shortage in the Israeli-occupied lands and will lead to a scarcity for key commodities like wheat, soybean and animal feed.
Haifa was responsible for 75% of food imports into Israel last year, it said, adding that the closure of the port because of a potential war with Hezbollah will complicate trade problems caused by Yemen’s attacks on the Israeli port of Eilat.
The report said Israel’s food supplies will only last for a short period as a war with Hezbollah could increase the possibility of panic buying and hoarding by Israeli settlers.
TheMarker quoted Israeli agriculture minister Avi Dichter as saying that the regime has no medium and long-term plans to ensure its food security.
Other sources said unloading a 7,000-ton vessel at Ashdod would take two weeks against only one and half days in Haifa.
Fears have grown about an escalation in cross-border trading of fire between Israel and Hezbollah since earlier this week when Israel killed a senior Hezbollah commander in an airstrike on his compound in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
Hezbollah has been hitting Israel’s military targets since early October in an act of solidarity with Palestinians fighting the Israeli regime in Gaza.
MNA