The Iraqi armed group Ashab al-Kahf on Tuesday threatened to target Israel’s southern city of Eilat and its strategic port if Israel launches a military offensive against Beirut’s southern suburbs.

In a statement, the group, which operates under the banner of the so-called “Islamic Resistance in Iraq,” warned that any Israeli escalation in southern Beirut would prompt retaliatory attacks against Israeli targets.

“Any assault on Beirut’s southern suburbs will be met with strikes against Eilat and its port,” the group said, without providing further details.

In a separate statement, Ashab al-Kahf rejected calls from Iraqi political parties and government officials urging armed factions to surrender their weapons to the state, reaffirming its opposition to efforts aimed at placing all weapons under government control.

The statements come as debate intensifies in Iraq over the future of armed groups and the issue of state authority over weapons. Iraqi officials and political leaders have increasingly discussed integrating or disarming armed factions as part of broader efforts to strengthen state institutions.

Several armed groups have recently signaled openness to transferring their weapons to government control. Among them is Saraya al-Salam, the military wing affiliated with influential Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, which recently announced its readiness to hand over its arsenal to state institutions as discussions continue over the future role of armed formations in Iraq.

The latest threats also coincide with escalating regional tensions as clashes between Israel and Hezbollah intensify, raising concerns that a wider conflict could draw in Iran-backed groups across the Middle East.

The “Islamic Resistance in Iraq,” an umbrella label used by several Iran-aligned Iraqi factions, has previously claimed responsibility for drone and missile attacks against Israeli targets, as well as attacks on US military forces stationed in Iraq and Syria since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict.