JERUSALEM — If the Jewish state intensifies its campaign against Hezbollah by sending ground troops into Lebanon, Palestinian Arab terror groups will open a “third front” against Israel by carrying out large-scale attacks that are “much bigger” than suicide bombings inside the country, the second in command of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said yesterday.

Abu Nasser told The New York Sun that his group has been working for more than a year on contingency plans to escalate violence in Israel should the Jewish state attack Iran, Syria, or Lebanon. He hinted the Brigades have obtained anti-aircraft missiles, which the group could use to target the Tel Aviv International Airport.

“For the moment, we see that Hezbollah is winning, but if — Allah forbid — there is a turnover in the war, we will not hesitate to carry out the plans we have been working on since [the cease-fire signed last February]. We will use rockets. We will target Tel Aviv airport. We will not abandon our brothers,” Mr. Nasser told the Sun, speaking from Nablus in the northern West Bank.

Al Aqsa Brigades, an offshoot of Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah Party, is responsible for scores of rocket and shooting attacks, and — with Islamic Jihad — for every suicide bombing since last February’s cease-fire. Security officials say Al Aqsa regularly coordinates attacks with Hezbollah officials, who funnel money to group leaders.

Mr. Nasser indicated his group works closely with Hezbollah.

“We do not forget that Hezbollah was the first to help us in this intifada,” he said. “It is normal that they expect us to act here inside Palestine in order to help them in the ugly war the Nazi Zionist enemy is carrying out against them. We do not need to receive instructions from Hezbollah, but we understand from our connections with them that carrying out attacks inside Palestine can be very helpful for them. As Muslims we need and we must help our brothers.”

Asked to detail the kinds of attacks the Brigades and other Palestinian Arab groups will carry out if they feel Hezbollah is “losing” in Lebanon, Mr. Nasser replied, “Tel Aviv airport can be targeted. I will not say what rockets and missiles we have, but I can say that we have all that is necessary.”

Mr. Nasser warned that his group’s fiercest response may be reserved for any future confrontation between Israel and Iran or Syria.

If Israel attacks Iran or Syria “we will hit with all the weapons and tools we have. Since the creation of the Palestine Liberation Organization in the ’60s, one of our goals has been to turn this conflict into a real Arab-Israeli confrontation. We believe that this moment is becoming very close,” he said.