The Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah confirmed on Monday that one of its top commanders, Wissam al-Taweel, was killed in southern Lebanon. Three security sources told Portal that he and another employee were killed when their car was hit by an Israeli attack.
“This is a very painful attack,” one of the sources told Portal, while another alluded to long-simmering concerns that the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza could spark another conflict on Israel’s northern border, saying: “The Things will flare up now.”
Israel Defense Forces did not immediately comment on al-Taweel's death.
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Since Hamas launched its unprecedented terrorist attack on southern Israel on October 7, there have been almost daily exchanges of fire between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces along the Israel-Lebanon border.
According to the AFP news agency, at least 175 people were killed in Lebanon, including 130 Hezbollah fighters. At least nine soldiers and four civilians were killed in northern Israel and thousands were evacuated from their homes in border communities due to ongoing fighting, according to country officials.
Israeli bombings in Lebanon are fueling fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East
Hezbollah is one of the most heavily armed non-state forces in the world and, like its ally Hamas, is backed by Iran. The ongoing exchange of fire between Hezbollah fighters and the Israeli military has been fueling concerns for four months that the conflict could develop into a larger war between Israel and Iranian-backed groups.
Hezbollah's capabilities are “ten times greater” than Hamas's, Sima Shine, director of the Iran program at the Institute for National Security Studies, told CBS News. Shine said an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah is unlikely, but if it happens, Israel would face a much stronger force in the Lebanese group than in Hamas.
“It is an army that is much better equipped than the Lebanese army and it has a lot of experience, having taken part in the war in Syria,” Shine said.
Smoke rises after an Israeli attack on the town of Khiam in the Nabatea governorate in southern Lebanon on January 7, 2024. Ramiz Dallah/Anadolu/Getty
Earlier this month, a senior Hamas commander, Saleh al-Arouri, was killed along with six other Hamas militants in an explosion in Beirut, Lebanon's capital. Al-Arouri was one of the founders of Hamas's military wing and was wanted by both the Israeli and American governments.
In response to the attack, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said his own group must retaliate. He said that if Hezbollah did not strike back, all of Lebanon would be under Israeli attack.
“We reiterate that this crime will never pass without response and punishment,” Nasrallah said on Lebanese television.
Israel and Hamas at war
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