Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, was slain in Tehran; this has not been proven, but it is difficult to believe that anybody else would have desired his death more than the Israelis. Regarding Fuad Shukr, the commander of Hezbollah, Israel claims that he was eliminated in Beirut by “intelligence-based elimination.”
Israel views all prominent Hamas members as valid targets in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attacks, which resulted in the greatest day of violence against Israel since the country’s inception in 1948.
Israel claims that Fuad Shukr was killed because, as an experienced Hezbollah commander, he was in charge of the rocket attack that claimed the lives of twelve children and teenagers in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Hezbollah has acknowledged that he perished in the Beirut raid. It disputes that it launched the attack in the Golan.
The Middle East is once more rife with rumors that the full-scale conflict that has been anticipated since October 7th is about to break out. The grave irony is that neither side wants the war, yet they are both becoming more willing to take the chance.
American allies have been pressuring Israel to strike Hezbollah with a blow that will damage the organization without sparking a devastating counterattack and starting a longer-term, more comprehensive battle.