Beirut’s Dahiyeh district could "look like Gaza” if Hezbollah continues attacking Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s foreign policy adviser, Ophir Falk, warned in an interview with NBC News on Wednesday.
Falk commented while discussing the war on Israel’s northern front, saying the Lebanese government should “take their country back” and disarm Hezbollah. He argued that if Beirut could not do so, “somebody else needs to do it,” before delivering the interview’s sharpest line: “If Hezbollah makes the mistake of attacking us and continues attacking us, Dahiyeh is going to look like Gaza.”
Many view Dahiyeh, located in Beirut's southern suburbs, as a stronghold of Hezbollah.
The interview focused mainly on Iran, where Falk said Israel’s objective was to remove what he called the “existential threat” posed by the ayatollah regime. According to the transcript, he said that the goal could be achieved either by bringing down the regime or by destroying its capabilities to the point that it could no longer threaten Israel.
Israel warns Hezbollah over attacks from Beirut
Falk also rejected the idea that Israel had pulled the US into the war, saying President Donald Trump made his own decision “for the good of the American people and for the free world.” He described the conflict as a “just war” and said Iran had posed an imminent threat to Israel, the US, and the broader region, according to the transcript you provided.
Pressed repeatedly on what made that threat imminent, Falk pointed to Iran’s long-standing rhetoric, its ballistic missile program, and what he described as deceptive conduct in negotiations. When asked whether Iran was weeks away from a nuclear weapon, Falk did not give a firm timeline, saying he did not know whether it was “weeks or months,” but insisted the danger was immediate.
The broad message from Falk was that Israel sees the Iran and Hezbollah fronts as part of the same strategic fight: weaken Tehran, destroy hostile capabilities, and warn neighboring actors that continued attacks will bring a far harsher Israeli response.