If this report turns out to be accurate, it will be a very dangerous escalation in the Mideast conflict: Hezbollah probably has Scud missiles: US senator.

WASHINGTON — The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has most likely acquired Scud missiles and improved its rocket-firing technology to the point of real danger for Israel, a top US senator warned Tuesday.

“I believe there is a likelihood that there are Scuds that Hezbollah has in Lebanon. A high likelihood,” Senate Intelligence Committee chair Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, told AFP.

“The rockets and missiles in Lebanon are substantially increased and better technologically than they were and this is a real point of danger for Israel,” Feinstein added.

Ballistic missiles, even relatively crude ones like Scuds, would change the playing field in Lebanon and northern Israel, putting all of the major Israeli cities within reach of Hezbollah weapons. Israel has the military tools to take out Scud launching sites, but Hezbollah is well-known for locating missiles and other weaponry in civilian areas. If they follow this tradition with Scud missiles and a conflict breaks out, the death toll among the civilian population could be much worse than in the last Lebanon war — and to Hezbollah, this is not necessarily something to be avoided, because civilian deaths have great propaganda value for the terrorist group.

We’ll be watching to see if this report is confirmed.