The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in Israeli raid that hit on Saturday - and Beirut – the headquarters of the Lebanese Shiite movement: the confirmation, after hours of silence, came directly from the "party of God". But who will now take his place? And how will the balance of power in the Middle East change? The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already spoken of a "historic turning point". The armed movement, however, reiterates that it will continue its armed resistance against Israel.
The Iran, among the main actors on the scene, is ready to send troops to Lebanon while the supreme leader Khamenei, already transferred to a safe place, called on all Muslims to "side with Hezbollah". Usa, at the window, they prepare for the escalation. Biden: “It is time for a ceasefire.” Moscow sentence: “Political murder”. In all this, the Italian government invites the compatriots a leave Lebanon as soon as possible.
Beirut in the rubble, what bombs did Israel use?
Beirut, meanwhile, has woken up among the rubble and the mourning: Lebanon remained mostly stunned and in shock even if there was no lack of celebrations by some groups of people who in other cities cheered the death of Nasrallah: it happened, for example, in some parts of the Syria, especially a Idlib, where the name of the organization's leader is linked to massacres of civilians. As for the Israeli raid that killed Nasrallah and the weapons used, it seems they were used bombs that can penetrate meters of concrete releasing a shockwave that engulfs everything in their radius into the ground. They are the “Bunker Buster Bomb”, the devices used by the Israeli army to eliminate the leader of Hezbollah. There are various types and of different power. In the air raid by Tel Aviv on Beirut, in all likelihood many of the 80 bomb unhooked from the F15 they were just like that anti-bunker, although no official confirmation was given by the Tel Aviv armed forces during the day on Saturday.
Beirut, what happened in the night
The Israeli army in the night has Hezbollah targets attacked again in Lebanese territory. He communicated this with a post on X: “Air Force aircraft, under the direction of the Northern Command, have attacked dozens of targets in the last few hours terrorists within the territory of Lebanon. These included rocket launchers aimed at Israel and buildings where the organization’s weapons and military facilities were stored. Over the past day, the IDF has attacked hundreds of terrorist targets across Lebanon, damaging and degrading Hezbollah’s military capabilities and infrastructure in Lebanon.”
Beirut, Iran's reaction. Nyt: Tehran divided
The Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, has called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council following the Israeli attack. This was reported Al Jazeera. In a letter to the prime minister, Iravani urged the body's members "to condemn in the strongest possible terms Israel's cowardly acts of aggression." He also warned against "any attack on Iran's diplomatic missions and representatives."
According to a report by New York Times, there are divisions within the Iranian government over how to respond to the killing of Nasrallah. Conservatives within Tehran's leadership are pushing for a strong response to the murder of the Islamic Republic's most prominent representative in the Middle East, while moderates, led by New Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, calling for restraint. Hardliners want Tehran to respond to the killing with a strike to deter Israel from potentially striking Iran, while Pezeshkian reportedly argued that doing so would fall into a trap set by Netanyahu to widen the war. Citing four unnamed Iranian officials familiar with Nasrallah, the News reports that Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “was deeply shocked by the death of his friend and is in mourning, but has taken a calm and pragmatic stance.” The report notes that Khamenei appeared to be implying that a response could come directly from the terrorist organization Hezbollah, rather than from Tehran.
Hezbollah, how is it reorganizing after Nasrallah?
Orphaned by its historic leader Nasrallah and with its military leaders decapitated in the space of a few weeks, how will Hezbollah move now? According to several analysts, the movement will not be wiped off the map of the Middle East: the party will re-emerge – they say – despite the hard blow, thanks to a new generation of political leaders and fighters, perhaps even more aggressive than those decimated in recent weeks by Israel.
This is why all eyes are now on the future of Hezbollah and its successor more likely, Hashem Safieddin: if some sources had reported his death together with Nasrallah, as the hours passed the hypothesis that the maternal cousin of the late leader instead be in a safe place while waiting to formally take over the reins of the party. The command pro tempore He appears to have been hired by Hezbollah's deputy secretary general, Sheikh Naima Qassem, a public figure who has been in charge of giving interviews to the media for years but without the charisma or popularity that Nasrallah enjoyed for three decades.
Safieddin, for his part, is indicated by many as a man closely tied to Iran. Only four years younger than Nasrallah, Safieddin is a sayyid, or a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad in Shiite tradition. This makes him the perfect successor. Unlike Nasrallah, who initially joined the Lebanese Amal party, Safieddin is described as an “Iranian political product.” Among the challenges that lie ahead are the need to purge the party of infiltrators and enemy spies, That of rebuild an internal communication structure that Israel can no longer penetrate and, last but not least, to form virtually scratch the military scaffolding of the armed party.
Beirut, US assessments of Israel's moves
- United States they think it's possible a limited ground incursion into Lebanon by Israel, which is currently moving its armed forces to the northern border. This is according to two senior US administration officials questioned by the CNN, according to which Israel does not yet seem to have decided whether to carry out a ground incursion. The US assessment is based on the mobilization of Israeli troops and the evacuation of areas, in what may be preparation for launching a ground incursion, one of the officials said.
