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Thursday, 1 August 2024
Iran Vows "Special Operations" To Take Revenge On Israel
HAMMER BLOW TO PEACETALKS SAYS JEREMY BOWEN
Bowen: Israel's killing of Haniyeh deals hammer blow to ceasefire prospects
Hamas's political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed shortly after attending the inauguration of Iran's new president
Jeremy Bowen
BBC International editor
Israel has inflicted two devastating blows on its enemies.
It has not confirmed that it killed the Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, but it is hard to see who else would have wanted him dead more than the Israelis. As for the Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, Israel says he was killed in Beirut in an “intelligence-based elimination”.
For Israel, everyone senior in Hamas is a legitimate target after the attacks of 7 October 2023, which inflicted the worst single day of bloodshed on Israel since independence in 1948.
Fuad Shukr, Israel says, was killed because as a veteran Hezbollah commander he was responsible for the rocket attack that killed 12 children and young people in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Hezbollah has confirmed he was killed in the raid on Beirut. It denies carrying out the attack in the Golan.
Once again, the Middle East is full of speculation that the all-out war feared since 7 October is imminent. The deadly irony is no side wants that war, but increasingly they are prepared to risk it.
The Israelis have been under pressure from their American allies to calibrate their response to Hezbollah, inflicting a blow that will hurt the group without provoking a devastating retaliation and igniting a wider and deeper war.
But two assassinations amount to a major gamble.
The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, might still decide that an attack on their stronghold in southern Beirut warrants a matching attack on Tel Aviv.
Israel might also have calculated that Iran would not go to war over an assassinated Palestinian leader, even though his death in their capital, under their protection, is a humiliation.
Killing Haniyeh, just after he had met the new Iranian president, is a dramatic display of Israel’s reach.
THIS AND MORE UPDATES AT: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp4wgqypwrxo
EVEN HEZBOLLAH NOW CONFIRM DEATH OF COMMANDER AND SWEAR REVENGE UPON ISRAEL
Hezbollah confirms commander died in Israeli strike
Hezbollah circulated a picture confirming Shukr's death
Hezbollah has confirmed one of its senior military commanders was killed in an Israeli air strike in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon.
Late on Wednesday, the Iran-backed group said Fuad Shukr's body had been found in the rubble of a building that was hit on Tuesday.
Four other people were killed in the strike, including two children. Earlier, the Israeli military said Shukr had been the target of an "intelligence-based elimination".
It said the strike was a response to a rocket attack that killed 12 people in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday, which Israel says the commander helped plan.
Hezbollah has denied having any involvement.
Fuad Shukr, who was in his early sixties, is believed to be a key military adviser to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The strike targeted a building in Haret Hreik, a part of the Dahiyeh suburb of Beirut.
It is a fortified, densely populated area. Dahiyeh itself is surrounded by checkpoints.
The children killed in the air strike were a 10-year-old boy and a his six-year-old sister. Shukr will be buried on Thursday, the statement said.
Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati called the attack a "criminal act".
An Israeli reaction to Saturday's rocket attack on the Golan had been widely expected. The country's security cabinet had authorised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to decide how to retaliate.
THIS AND MORE UPDATES AT: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cldy0zpyq77o
Hamas military chief killed in air strike, Israel says
Hamas military chief killed in air strike, Israel says
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Iran will ‘Punish Zionist Regime’ to Avenge Haniyeh’s Death, Israel Braces for Major Attack
Israel Braces for Major Revenge Attack as Iran Considers How to Avenge Haniyeh's Death
| What Haniyeh Assassination Means for Hostage Deal; Congress Members Praise Israel for Killing of Top Hezbollah Commander; If Turkey Invades Israel, it will be with US Weapons | ||||||||||||||||||||
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