Since July, there has never been an Israeli army attack on Beirut from the sky. But the goal was too important for Israel. In the crosshairs of the precision strike with at least six missiles, which took place in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital against a building in the suburb of Dahiyeh considered a Hezbollah stronghold, was Haytham Ali Tabatabai, the de facto chief of staff of the Lebanese extremist group that belongs to the anti-Israel galaxy and is considered the number two “Party of God”, after secretary general Naim Qassem. The successful targeted execution, which claimed the lives of 5 people but was aimed at the military leader, who had commanded the group’s special forces in Syria and Yemen and whose head was put on a $5 million bounty by Washington.
Ali Tabatabai, defined by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu as “a bloodthirsty killer who presided over rearmament” was killed and the message to Hezbollah from the Jewish State arrived loud and clear. These targeted actions show that Tel Aviv is losing patience with repeated violations of the ceasefire signed a year ago with Hezbollah and the group’s stated rejection of disarmament, which has instead reorganized and accused the Jewish State of repeated violations. Exactly one year after the agreement, fears of a return to armed conflict have resurfaced in Lebanon, although the Jewish State has made it clear through Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir that it is committed to maintaining the ceasefire, but will not allow Hezbollah to reorganize.
“Israel continues to attack terrorism on various fronts, in Gaza and Lebanon,” explained the Israeli prime minister at a government meeting. “We will not allow Hezbollah to rebuild its capabilities or pose a threat to Israel. I hope the Lebanese government will disarm Hezbollah.” Finally, a clarification to try to refute the heterodirected accusations by Donald Trump: “We act independently”; “All this talk that we have to get permission from this side or that is an absolute lie.” The American site Axios and an American official at Channel 12 reported that the United States had not been warned by Israel about the attack, others instead spoke of Israeli plans to increase bombing in Lebanon that Washington had known about for several days, without knowing details regarding the target, time and location of the attack.
In total, attacks in southern Lebanon killed two Hezbollah members over the weekend. The escalation that prompted Beirut called on the international community to act. “The world must intervene forcefully to stop Israel’s attacks,” President Joseph Aoun called. But in the evening came a celebratory statement from the US, congratulating Israel for being “satisfied” with the attack, which it defined as “extraordinary”. Netanyahu also thanked Trump for saying he wanted to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.
Hezbollah has
condemned Israel’s “new red line trajectory.” The current climate is very tense and risks the fallout of what could happen between Hamas and Israel in the coming months if the Islamists do not disarm.
