The blatant killing of Nasrallah, supposedly the leader of Iran’s most powerful proxy in the region, is to prove that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is weak and incompetent.
When reporters of BBC and Al-Jazeera, arguably two of the loudest cheerleaders of Hamas and Hezbollah terror groups, appeared sombre and sad while reading (unconfirmed) news that Israel has killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, you know that the cleric is indeed dead. Besides, the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) rarely announces something it isn’t sure of or cannot be confirmed.
But there were other prizes along with Nasrallah, who immediately lost his arrogance on Sept 17 after his entire terrorist network was crippled in a stunning explosion of thousands of pagers, the detonation of walkie-talkies and other devices planted by Israeli spy agency Mossad. The air strike, which hit Hezbollah’s underground headquarters, also claimed the life of Ali Karaki, Hezbollah’s southern front commander.
As a bonus, General Abbas Nilforoushan, deputy commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps too was killed at the Dahiyeh headquarters in Beirut. While Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has insisted that Israel cannot destroy Hezbollah, after Tehran’s proxy Nasrallah was neutralized, Iran’s supreme leader has been quietly rushed to a secure location with heightened security measures.
Ali Khamenei went into hiding after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travelled to the United States and delivered a chilling speech at the United Nations General Assembly. He warned – “There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach. And that’s true of the entire Middle East. I have another message for this assembly and for the world outside this hall – We are winning”.
It didn’t matter that a group of diplomats (including from Malaysia and Indonesia) walked out in protest as Netanyahu arrived to address the UN General Assembly’s 79th session on Friday (Sept 27). He came to warn not only Tehran in front of the world but to show off the real capability of Israel – defending itself against Tehran on seven fronts, including Hamas (Gaza), Hezbollah (Lebanon) and Houthis (Yemen).
The 64-year-old terrorist chief Nasrallah might have thought he would be safe in his underground command centre. It was not only a mistake, but a dumb decision, especially after Mossad had demonstrated its ability to hack and compromise the terror group’s communications network, leading to explosions of thousands of pagers issued to selected trusted Hezbollah officials.
Clearly, the attack on low-tech communication devices such as pagers and walkie-talkies was the beginning of the demise of the Hezbollah network. About 10 days later (Sept 27), Israel sent a wave of fighter jets, unleashing 85 “bunker-buster” bombs (weighing between 2,000 and 4,000 pounds each), which are designed to penetrate deep into the ground before detonating.
Capable of penetrating up to 30 meters of earth or 6 meters of reinforced concrete, a bunker buster is a type of bomb that is designed to penetrate hardened targets or targets buried deep underground, such as military bunkers. Once it explodes upon penetrating its target, it generates shockwaves powerful enough to collapse nearby structures, causing mass casualties.
Nasrallah, who has been the leader of Hezbollah for 32 years, was basically a sitting duck together with his other senior officials. Having hidden for years underground and using civilians as a human shield, he miscalculated that the Israeli forces did not know his exact location and wouldn’t dare to use bunker buster. It was game over when giant mushroom clouds of smoke and flames were seen rising at Dahiyeh.
The “precision strike” that hit Hezbollah’s central headquarters located beneath residential buildings in Dahiyeh took out six buildings, including apartment blocks. Essentially, the entire building turned to rubble and dust. Despite Hezbollah (or what is left of it) and Tehran’s best effort to put up a brave face with more empty rhetoric and threats, there was panic and fear over Israel’s next move.
Interestingly, Netanyahu gave his green light to take out Hassan Nasrallah from New York after abruptly ending his briefing with reporters. The Israeli PM cut short his US visit to return home after the “Operation New Order” was successfully executed. It shows that without the burden of Israeli hostages, the IDF could be extremely ruthless, precise and decisive in destroying its enemies.
After the attacks using pagers, the writing was already on the wall that even Nasrallah’s own security had been compromised. A senior Israeli official revealed – “The last thing Nasrallah did was watch the Israeli Prime Minister on TV in the UN. He was sure he knew the Israelis, but didn’t understand what is coming”. Live by the sword, die by the sword – he died without knowing what hit him.
Netanyahu’s order to eliminate Hezbollah’s secretary-general from New York was a slap in the face of President Joe Biden, who had earlier called for a 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border. PM Netanyahu pretended to agree to discuss the proposal, only to escalate the crisis in the United States. And despite repeatedly crossing Iran’s “red lines”, the Mullah regime in Tehran does not dare to retaliate.
Tehran says Israel has crossed multiple red lines – launching a ground operation in Gaza, a suspected Israeli airstrike on the Islamic Republic’s consulate building in Damascus, and assassinating Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh on Iranian soil. Yet, nearly two months after Haniyeh’s death, Iran continues to threaten retaliation but has done little in response.
With the air strike that killed Nasrallah on Friday, yet another Iranian red line has been crossed. Iran’s lack of action has emboldened Israel to escalate tensions rapidly. In short, Israel is calling Iran’s bluff. The blatant killing of Nasrallah, supposedly the leader of Iran’s most powerful proxy in the region, is to prove that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is weak and incompetent.
In fact, Khamenei is so terrified that not only did he go into hiding after Nasrallah’s death on Friday, but he only dared to call on Muslims to “stand by the people of Lebanon” without making any specific threat to mobilise Iran’s own forces. The supreme leader of Iran fears any rhetoric could be used by Israel as an excuse to launch a pre-emptive strike against him.
Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, Israel’s top army general, said – “This is not the end of our toolbox. We have more capacity going forward. Anyone who threatens the state of Israel, we will know how to reach them.” In yet another demonstration to show its capability, Israel hacked the air traffic control tower of Beirut’s international airport to warn a plane arriving from Iran to turn back.
Israel obviously is provoking Iran to retaliate militarily, giving the IDF a legitimate reason to bomb Tehran – even to neutralize Khamenei. The Mullah is now in trouble. If the regime still does not respond, there could be rebellion. If it retaliates, it will fall into the trap of Israel. Either way, Netanyahu’s approval ratings hit the roof as Israelis rejoiced on Saturday (Sept 28) over Nasrallah’s death.
But the Jews are not the only ones celebrating. While Shia Muslim minority in Lebanon was in disbelief and demoralized over the death of their so-called “resistance hero”, Lebanon’s other communities – Christians, Sunni Muslims and Druze – are celebrating. Many blame Nasrallah and his Hezbollah for contributing to Lebanon’s political paralysis and economic crisis, as well as for dragging them into an endless conflict with Israel.
Then came the memes – spreading like wildfire at lightning speed on WhatsApp channels popular with Lebanese opponents of Hezbollah – of Nasrallah surrounded by bikini-clad women, a reference to the 72 virgins that some followers of Islam believe wait in Heaven for those who die as “martyrs”. The message was clear – the Hezbollah leader could have his virgins, as long as he was gone from Lebanon.
Nasrallah, who became a hero across the Arab world for a while due to his battle with the “Zionist enemy”, soon became a power-hungry tyrant when he obediently served Iran’s interest in splitting and butchering Sunni Muslims in the thousand-year-old Sunni-Shia endless war. First, Hezbollah was responsible for the 2005 assassination of Lebanon Prime Minister Rafik Hariri – a popular Sunni leader.
Then in 2008 came an even blunter show of force as Hezbollah militants occupied Sunni neighbourhoods of Beirut, only withdrawing after a new government was formed, but not before giving the Shia militia veto power in Lebanon. Even after Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, Nasrallah kept dragging the country into one war after another over the past 24 years.
The arrogant Hezbollah leader believed he was invincible, untouchable and undefeatable when he began firing rockets into Israel on October 8, 2023, a day after Hamas terrorists killed some 1,200 Israelis in a stunning invasion of southern Israel. After firing more than 8,000 rockets, Israel said enough is enough and the war of Nasrallah’s choosing proved to be his last.
Likewise, videos circulating on social media show Muslims of the rebel-held region of Idlib, in north-western Syria, dancing to celebrate the death of Nasrallah. As fireworks exploded in the sky, people cheered and clapped while passing drivers honked their horns. Syrians are shown handing out sweets to passers-by, thanking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and vowing that Syrian President Bashar Assad will be next in line.
Yes, it’s Muslims fighting Muslims in Syria. Hezbollah has long been an ally of the Assad regime and helped it in its fight against the Syrian opposition since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011 until 2019. The Arab Spring, which began in 2010 and swept across the region, toppling dictatorships in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, failed in Syria when Hezbollah and Iran saved Assad.
Yasmine Muhammad, said she felt an “overwhelming happiness that cannot be described” when she heard of Nasrallah’s death. She said – “I consider this revenge for the thousands of Syrians who were killed by Hezbollah, the main support of Bashar al-Assad. Hezbollah committed the most heinous massacres against Syrians, and it also participated in the starvation and displacement of thousands of Syrians.”
In Arabic, Hezbollah literally means “Party of God”. But that does not mean Nasrallah is immortal. The only reason he was left to live since the October 8 provocation by Hezbollah is because Israel had a bigger fish to fry. After reducing Gaza and Hamas to rubble, the IDF changed its focus to Lebanon. Nasrallah should have seen it coming. You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. – Finance Twitter