Lebanon’s ambassador to the UK, Rami Mortada, warns that an Israeli invasion of the country would mean the end of the world, the Revolutionary Guards threaten a “crushing response from the axis of resistance”, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah denounces the violation of “red lines” and Israel is said to be “harvesting” the Shiite organization’s top commanders in a coup for Beirut.
According to the Israeli military (IDF), during an airstrike, Ibrahim Akil, one of the top commanders of the militant group who led the Hezbollah operations group and the special forces commander of the Radwan unit, was killed, and about 10 other senior commanders gathered underground in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
“Ibrahim Akil is the person closest to Nasrallah,” said Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari.
This fatal strike was aimed at “protecting the citizens of Israel,” according to the IDF spokesman, who added that Israel is not seeking regional escalation.
Hezbollah commander killed in Beirut: Rewarded for 1983 US embassy bombing
Hezbollah, however, did not confirm Akil’s death. Lebanon’s health ministry reported at least 12 dead and 66 injured.
Want to maintain the status quo of low-level hostilities
The attack represents a major blow and another major security setback for a group already struggling to recover from a week of airstrikes in southern Lebanon and covert attacks that caused thousands of communications devices to explode simultaneously, leaving a total of 37 dead and thousands injured.
With Beirut under renewed attack, Hezbollah faces a strategic choice: accept another blow or escalate and risk an all-out war that the group says it does not want.
The organization argued that Hezbollah wants to maintain the status quo of low-level hostilities.which forces the Israelis to transfer military resources to the north and increases pressure on Netanyahu to end the offensive in Gaza.
Hezbollah is willing to make sacrifices to maintain this equation, losing hundreds of its men on the front. But he declared that civilians and Beirut are a red line.
However, it failed to respond proportionately to the assassination of Fuad Shukr in Beirut on July 31, which also killed civilians.
Looking for “spies”
The Lebanese militant group, however, dismayed by the bomb attack, is currently trying to determine whether any of its networks are secure and hunting down potential “spies” in the group, people familiar with the matter said.
The “occupied” Americans – Netanyahu unstoppable
Meanwhile, Netanyahu is obsessed with the polls that show that since Israel has managed to target the leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas – its position is improving. So he is expected to continue with his strategy, he will continue to do so.
“What we need is to put an end to this,” says Israeli political analyst Akiva Eldar. “Right now, the US administration and the American people are busy with their own elections. And Netanyahu is taking advantage of that.”
