Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based Shia militant group has lost its chief in Israeli air strikes in the capital Beirut. The Israel Defence Forces have moved the conflict north and have vowed to uproot Hezbollah’s political and military arsenal. In the last few weeks intense cross-border shelling and rocket attacks have been witnessed with no sign of a descalation.
Since the pager and walkie-talkie explosions across Lebanon which killed over 30 and injured thousands, the war between Hezbollah and Israel has intensified, with the former calling it a “massacre”. Since Israel invaded Gaza last year to destroy Hamas, Hezbollah has been targeting northern Israel which led to a mass displacement of over 70,000 people due to frequent rocket attacks.
‘Settling Scores’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they have “settled the score” after killing Hezbollah General Secretary Hassan Nasrallah in an air strike. This came after a week-long aerial bombing campaign carried out by IDF across Lebanon. The heat signature detected by NASA’s Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument explains the extent of attacks.
The bombing campaign over the weekend also included the capital Beirut, where Hassan Nasrallah was killed along with Ali Karaki, the southern front commander of Lebanon and 19 other Hezbollah members. On its east bordering Syria, the campaign was primarily aimed at blocking the supply of weapons from Syria – A state which has an ongoing conflict with Israel and is backed by Iran.
The border between Syria and Lebanon acts as the supply line for weapons and reportedly some manufacturing units are located in southern Lebanon, as claimed by IDF in a post on X after it carried out strikes east of Beqqa valley, south and north Lebanon.
When NASA’s active fire data can be backed by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) analysis which geolocates the Israeli bombing campaign, suggesting that the heat signatures detected by VIIRS were indeed from the bombing campaign.
This is not an exhaustive list of strikes. Israel has been conducting strikes daily in Lebanon.
“We settled the score with the one responsible for the murder of countless Israelis and many citizens of other countries, including hundreds of Americans and dozens of French,” Netanyahu said after it was confirmed that Nasrallah was dead. Meanwhile, Israeli military spokesman, Daniel Hagari, said “the world would be a safer place with him (Hasrallah).”
According to the IDF, it has eliminated most of the Hezbollah top cadre.
Tehran-based international relations professor Mehdi Zakerian said the Iran-aligned resistance front “was not only unable to contain Israel, it also suffered serious blows”. “If the government wants to get involved in reconstructing Lebanon or re-equipping Hezbollah, it will aggravate Iran’s economic crisis,” he added.
Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group says, Iran “has every interest in trying to preserve whatever remains of Hezbollah. Hezbollah is Iran’s shield. I don’t think Iranians would give up on almost 40 years of investment in this project overnight because a dozen people were eliminated.”
