WhatsappJust before sundown Tuesday night, Israel F-35s struck targets in the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh – a Hezbollah stronghold. Early reports, which appear to be confirmed, said that Hezbollah’s number two and the organization’s main military leader Fuad Shukr “Sayyid Muhsan” was eliminated.
Fuad Shukr’s elimination was payback for his ordering of the Majdal Shams massacre. His elimination in Lebanon’s capital city drew direct threats of retaliation by Hezbollah. Despite the drama surrounding Fuad Shukr’s take down, it was Ismail Haniyeh’s neutralization that shocked Iran and has now threatened to push the region into full scale war.
Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, was killed in downtown Tehran after a missile hit the house he was staying in. Iran said the missile came from outside of Iran and struck the house at 2 am killing Haniyeh and his bodyguard. Ismail Haniyeh was in Tehran for inauguration of Iran’s new president Masoud Pezeshkian.
This is one of the most extraordinary military hits in world history, bringing into question Iran’s “invincibility”, something extremely dangerous in the Middle East.
Since October 7th Israel has pledged to take out Hamas’ leaders wherever they are and followed through in amazing fashion. The elimination of Fuad Shukr and Ismail Haniyeh have a wide range of implications for Israel and the region.
Iran has already made it clear that they will retaliate for both assassinations. Last time Iran attacked Israel directly they gave a heads up which allowed Israel and others to work together to thwart such a big assault. This time will most likely be surprise.
The assassinations changed the way Israel’s enemies relate to her. After all, any country that can shoot a missile into its downtown area with such precision is an enemy to be take seriously…very seriously.
The region is close to full scale war. Bibi Netanyahu knew this would be the result when he ordered the hits. The fact is, October 7th was the beginning of the regional war. Everything that has happened since then was eveyone else realizing how serious the situation truly has been. Israel’s take down of Shukr and Haniyeh is just another stage in the war’s evolution.
With Iran’s attack expected shortly, Israel now knows it can no longer sit back and take the hits – real victory means being proactive and decisive against one’s existential enemies. Israel’s final war against its regional enemies has now begun.
