After Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, in the sights of Israel it’s finished Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut. Israeli forces planned the attack in Lebanon targeting the leader of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah already on Wednesday, before Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to New York. Not a sudden blitz, but a reasoned assault, like the others conducted in the country, including explosive pagers and walkie talkies. The end of “Abu Hadi”, as he is called by his followers, is not yet clear: Hezbollah reassures its followers, even if some militia sources define him as “unattainable” at this time, while the Israeli forces have confirmed his death.
As revealed by Axios, officials said they decided to wait for an operational opportunity that arrived yesterday: the motivation behind the attack was that Nasrallah had refused to separate Hezbollah from Hamas in Gaza and to stop the fighting on the northern border. Therefore, we further read, the decision was to “remove it from the decision-making framework“. Without any official role in Lebanon, Nasrallah was (or perhaps is) one of the country’s most prominent politicians: he has the final say on war or peace, he leads powerful institutions and above all the heavily armed militia. Israel has always been an enemy and its public appearances decreased considerably after the war that pitted its movement against the Israeli army in the summer of 2006.
According to reports from the Israeli prime minister’s office, Netanyahu he approved the Beirut attack over the phone from his New York hotel. And he subsequently decided to bring forward his return to Israel. However, the version on the information provided to the USA is opaque. An Israeli source said the White House was notified of the raid minutes before it took place. According to the Pentagon, however, there would have been no warning: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would have spoken with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant while the operation was already underway.
According to a Lebanese security source, quoted by the pan-Arab broadcaster “Sky News Arabia”, contacts with Nasrallah have been completely cut off. His death would represent a hard blow for Hezbollah and in general for the anti-Israel axis. Since the start of the war in Gaza between the Jewish state and Hamas, the 63-year-old had opened Lebanon’s southern front to support his Palestinian ally, while trying to avoid a full-scale war with Israel. A vain attempt, considering the rain of missiles in recent days. But that’s not all. According to what was noted by the forces in the field – reports Channel 12 – also Zainab Nasrallahdaughter of Hezbollah’s secretary general, was reportedly killed in the Israeli attack on Beirut
No other prominent faces of Hezbollah would have been involved in the Israeli air attack. According to qualified security sources who are following the evolution of the situation in Lebanon, the victims could be hundreds, but confirmation is expected over the next few hours. Israeli fighters hit several Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and in the heart of the country: among them rocket launchers aimed at Israel and buildings used as weapons depots. The reaction of the terrorist group was not long in coming: several rockets launched from Lebanon and shrapnel hit the northern Israeli city of Safad, causing serious damage. A 68-year-old woman was slightly injured and taken to the city’s Ziv hospital, The Times of Israel reports.
Michael Sfaradi tells us that after the attack, which according to the IDF was targeted, large secondary explosions were seen at the site, evidence that weapons had been attached. Shortly before, a source close to Hezbollah told the news agency Reuters that he contacted the organization’s secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah. had been lost, which the IDF estimates was at least damaged – and most likely even eliminated – in the attack on Hezbollah’s central headquarters in Da’iyah. Contact was also lost with other senior officials who apparently were with Nasrallah at headquarters, including Ali Karchi, who replaced Hassan Mahdawi, who was eliminated in Damascus. As of 01:00, there were more than 90 injured and around six dead in the attack.
The operation, which took place at 6.20pm against the clandestine headquarters, is defined by the IDF as “very important, which can change some things in the Middle East. However, the IDF is still examining the results of the attack.” It has not yet been confirmed whether other senior commanders of the terrorist army were located in the compound.
Israel “will fight until victory, a total victory”, Netanyahu’s message from the United States: “Israel will also defeat Hezbollah in Lebanon”. But pay attention to the reaction of Tehrananother particularly delicate front. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Naser Kanani called the Israeli offensive a war crime: “This barbaric attack was carried out with bombs donated by the US regime and therefore the US is complicit and should be held accountable.” The bombing of Beirut, he added, was an “attack on the sovereignty, territorial integrity and national security of Lebanon.” The Secretary of State’s position came from Washington Antony Blinkenthe White House still believes a diplomatic solution is possible in the Middle East: “The path to diplomacy may seem hard to see right now, but it is there and, in our judgment, it is necessary. We will continue to work intensely.”
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