Two high-level killings of Iran-allied militant commanders in the space of just 12 hours have raised concerns that the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza could quickly turn into a wider regional conflict in the Middle East.
Experts said the killing of Hamas’s top leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran’s capital Tehran and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Lebanon’s capital Beirut was Israel’s attempt to show it can get anyone, anywhere, Reuters reported.
Israel has denied any role in Haniyeh’s killing, even though it has claimed responsibility for the airstrike in Beirut that killed Shukr. However, a US official told CBS News that it believed both Haniyeh and Shukr were killed in Israeli strikes.
Israel had promised to eliminate all Hamas leaders in the wake of the October 7 attack by the Palestinian outfit. In fact, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said publicly that he had instructed intelligence agency Mossad to act against “Hamas leaders wherever they are”.
While Haniyeh was more of a moderate face in Hamas and did not have a direct role in the October 7 attack, Israel believed the action had his blessings.
The fears of a broader escalation in the Middle East are not completely unfounded. Haniyeh’s killing isn’t just a massive blow for Hamas, but also a big loss of face for Iran, Israel’s arch enemy.
Haniyeh was killed in Tehran a day after Iran attempted to show off its alliance with powerful regional militias at the inauguration ceremony of its President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Not only representatives of Hamas, but top leaders from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Yemen’s Houthis and Lebanon’s Hezbollah gathered in Tehran amid chants of “Death to Israel”, the Washington Post reported.
But even before the sun rose the next day, Haniyeh was killed at 2 am in an airstrike on his Tehran residence. Hamas said an “Israeli” raid killed Haniyeh and its military wing vowed to “take the battle to new dimensions”.
Iran has also threatened retaliation, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying that retribution for the killing of Haniyeh was “Tehran’s duty”.
HEZBOLLAH COMMANDER KILLED IN AIRSTRIKE HOURS AGO
Haniyeh’s killing came hours after the Israeli military said it had killed top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in an airstrike in Beirut.
Fuad Shukr, believed to be a close aide of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, has been in the crosshairs of Israel and the United States for a long time.
However, the latest provocation was a drone strike, purportedly by Hezebollah, that killed 12 children in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. This was the highest number of civilian casualties in Israeli territory since Hezbollah started firing missiles towards the country on October 8, 2023.
Hezbollah, which has demanded a ceasefire in Gaza, has supported Hamas by firing missiles and mortars into northern Israel.
Shukr was also wanted by America for his role in the 1983 bombing of a US Marines barracks in Beirut. The US has announced a reward of $5 million for information about him and his whereabouts.
Most of Hamas’s senior leaders are still believed to be in Gaza, including Yahya Sinwar, the outfit’s top commander who masterminded the October 7 attack on Israel.
