Israeli airstrikes continue in Lebanon
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
After previous major attacks against the Hezbollah party just earlier in the month, another large-scale strike from Israel has decimated Hezbollah’s current leadership.
After major attacks against the Hezbollah party just earlier this month by Israeli forces, another large-scale strike from Israel has decimated Hezbollah’s current leadership and caused further chaos within Lebanon.
The Israeli military reported that after an airstrike on Friday, Sept. 27, Hassan Nasrallah, the security general of Hezbollah, was killed. Along with him were six other civilian deaths and 91 injuries as of the latest report, with a rising total of over 600 casualties. The purpose of said strike, targeting Lebanon's capital of Beirut, was to assassinate Hassan. The Israel Defense Force reported that “The strike was conducted while Hezbollah’s senior chain of command was operating from the headquarters and advancing terrorist activities against the citizens of the State of Israel.”
Along with Hassan, one of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Generals died in the same strike. General Abbas Nilforushan oversaw Iran’s ground forces as one of its commanders, with his group aiding and allying with Hezbollah to try and fight back against Israel by using local militias.
On the evening of Friday, Sept. 27, Hezbollah fired missiles into Israel, with one hitting a house in the city of Safed. There were also attempted attacks on Israel’s Tel Aviv airport, only shortly following Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu’s plane landing. The missile was intercepted, but officials do not know if the failed attack was directed toward Netanyahu as a response to the missile attacks in Lebanon.
These attacks, while substantial, are being said to only further increase tensions and opposition against Israel. Before the attack on Sept. 27, Hezbollah supporters and representatives gathered to mourn for three members killed in previous strikes. One of Hezbollah's top officers, Hussein Fadlallah, said in Beirut, “We will not abandon the support of Palestine, Jerusalem, and oppressed Gaza. There is no place for neutrality in this battle.”
Hamas, the main Palestinian militant group fighting against Israel in Gaza, has offered their solace to the loss of Hassan and reported that “assassinations will only increase the resistance on Lebanon and Palestine in determination and resolve.”
While defiance continues to hold for both Hezbollah and Lebanon, strikes against Hezbollah leadership will continue, according to an Israel military report. Israeli’s Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halveni said assassinating Hassan was “not the end of our toolbox.” The military has also stated that reserve soldiers are being sent for, with two brigades worth stationed in northern Israel if a ground invasion order is called.
Beyond this, peace talks and agreements have been fruitlessly achieved as US officials and allies created and proposed a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah. The temporary peace would last for 21 days, and this valuable time would be used to stop a full war from beginning between the two groups. Yet, it seems that peace will not be achieved. Some time afterward, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Israel Defense Forces would continue attacking, with his policy being “... We continue to hit Hezbollah with all our might. We will not stop until we achieve all our goals.” US officials believe that if publicly Israel will not accept it, nor will Hezbollah and its fractured leadership.
With tensions already high from the pager explosions in Lebanon just a few weeks ago, along with public statements that peace will not be an option and further troop developments on the Lebanon-Israel border, it might be only a matter of time until the world must watch as the worst-case scenario occurs.