Israel assassinated longtime Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday in a drastic escalation in its year-old conflict with the Iranian proxy group.
Israeli warplanes dropped dozens of 2,000-pound bunker-buster bomb on Hizbollah’s headquarters deep under apartment buildings in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh.
In addition to Nasrallah, 20 other Hizbollah commanders and a deputy commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were also killed.
Nasrallah’s death, which reportedly involved real-time Israeli intelligence on his movements, came during an intense bombing campaign by Israel against Hizbollah targets in southern Lebanon, southern Beirut and the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon.
The strikes have decimated Hizbollah’s senior leadership.
The Israeli air force has also struck thousands of rocket launchers and munition storage sites, limiting the Hizbollah’s ability to retaliate with widespread rocket and missile attacks on northern and central Israel.
Several hundred civilians have been killed in Beirut and other parts of the country in addition to Hizbollah fighters, marking Lebanon’s deadliest days since the 1975-90 civil war.
Cross-border exchanges escalated sharply two weeks ago after Israel staggered Hizbollah by simultaneously exploding thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies of its operatives, killing dozens and wounding thousands.
Reports suggest that Israeli intelligence intercepted thousands of pagers and handheld radios bound for Hizbollah, placing a small amount of explosive material inside each device along with a detonator.
Despite taking heavy hits to its arsenal, command and communications, Hizbollah retains a large stock of accurate missiles, rockets and drones that it conceivably could use to devastating effect against Israel.
On 25 September, Hizbollah launched a cruise missile at Tel Aviv, its deepest attack into Israel since the latest round of fighting began. Israel intercepted the missile and reported no casualties or damage.
Future missile or drone attacks on Haifa, Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities are all but certain.
Israel, under pressure to return some 60,000 evacuees to northern communities, repeatedly has threatened a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, which would trigger all-out war.
In recent days, two additional armored brigades were deployed to northern Israel for potential cross-border operations in Lebanon.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians also have fled the border region.
Personnel in Israel should remain south of Haifa and north of Ashdod and stay close to bomb shelters.
Visitors should take the precaution of ascertaining the location of bomb shelters upon checking into their hotels.
No travel whatsoever should be undertaken to Lebanon.
