Israel escalates the pressure on Lebanon even more. After the thriller with chain explosions of electronic devices that routed and disorganized Hezbollah, the Israeli army today struck from the air the organization’s stronghold in Beirut, killing its senior commander Ibrahim Akil. Another 10 Hezbollah commanders were killed in the strike. Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi told the military council that “the Hezbollah commanders we killed today had been planning ‘October 7’ on Israel’s northern border for years.

It is about for Hezbollah’s second-in-command who is killed in an Israeli bombardment after the movement opened a front on the Lebanese-Israeli border almost a year ago in support of its ally, Hamas. The US had proclaimed Ibrahim Akil, offered an amount of 7 million dollars for information leading to his identification as he was allegedly involved in the deadly anti-American attacks in Beirut in 1983.

Ibrahim Akil

Hezbollah confirmed late at night the death of Ibrahim Akil, “one of our great leaders,” who was killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” in the terminology the Iran-aligned movement uses when referring to victims of Israeli military operations.

The impact flattened an entire building with at least 14 people killed and over 66 injured.

Hamas condemned the “terrorist attack”, while Iran the “flagrant violation (…) of the territorial integrity” of Lebanon. On the other hand, the Israeli armed forces assured that they do not seek a “major escalation” of the war in the region. But Israel’s bold, coordinated attacks, targeting Hezbollah members with explosives hidden inside buzzers and radios, have once again brought the Middle East to the brink of a wider conflict nearly a year after the militant group Hamas attacked Israel in October 7 which resulted in the war in Gaza.

The question now is what Hezbollah and Israel’s next moves will be, with the United Nations Security Council holding an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss the situation.

As CNN reports, it is unclear whether Israel’s attacks are a precursor to a ground invasion on its northern border with Lebanon, and to what extent Iran-backed Hezbollah, one of the most powerful paramilitary forces in the region, is capable of responding. despite the fact that its leader has sworn revenge.

What is the result?

In Lebanon, fear and panic have gripped residents as the attacks upended daily life with deadly consequences. A surgeon told CNN there is a long road to recovery for many of those maimed or in critical condition after wireless devices exploded in their pockets or on their faces.

At least 37 people were killed in the attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday, including children, and nearly 3,000 were injured. Hezbollah said at least 38 of its members had been killed as of Tuesday afternoon, but did not provide further details.

In a speech on Thursday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah condemned the attacks, calling them “massacres” that “crossed all red lines” because the devices exploded in public places, with civilians among the wounded.

Although Hezbollah “suffered a significant blow”, they will be “justly punished”, he added, adding that the attacks had not brought the organization to its knees.

The Hezbollah leader also warned Israel that fighting on the Lebanese front will not stop until hostilities in Gaza end.

What is Israel’s plan?

As Nasrallah spoke on Thursday, Israeli warplanes flew over Beirut, dropping flares and causing sonic booms that raised fears of escalation in the Lebanese capital. Hours later, Israel launched a barrage of strikes in Lebanon, saying it hit about 100 Hezbollah rocket launchers and “terrorist infrastructure sites.”

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it launched at least 17 attacks on military installations in northern Israel.

Israel has “shown” its readiness for war with Hezbollah. The Israeli defense minister’s warning on Wednesday that a “new era” of war was beginning was followed by the army confirming that its top commander had “completed the approval of plans for the northern field.

The refocus on the north comes after Israel made it a new war objective to return displaced residents to their homes near the northern border after being evacuated by Hezbollah attacks.

How might Hezbollah respond?

Hezbollah leader Nasrallah hinted that there would be retaliation for the attacks, but it is unclear what ability the group might have to launch a counterattack if many of its members are injured and basic methods of communication are no longer reliable.

Although Hezbollah appears weakened, it is still believed to be the most heavily armed non-state organization in the world with an increasingly sophisticated arsenal capable of inflicting significant damage on Israel.

However, there are indications that the organization may have been driven “deeper underground”. The usual public gathering, usually made up of senior party officials and supporters to watch Nasrallah’s speech, was absent on Thursday.

And Nasrallah’s speech – his first since the two waves of attacks – was likely pre-recorded.

But the Hezbollah leader – who said the group’s leadership was mostly spared the attacks because they used older devices – has a strong supporter in Iran.

Lebanon-based Hezbollah is part of a Tehran-led axis spanning Yemen, Syria, Gaza and Iraq that has been embroiled in conflict with Israel and its allies for the past 11 months.

The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, reportedly told Nasrallah that Israel would “soon face” “a decisive and overwhelming response from the axis of resistance.”

The group also has a history of targeting Israel abroad, including the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Argentina that killed 29 people, and attacks on Israeli diplomats in India, Georgia and Thailand in 2012 that Israel blamed on Iran and Hezbollah. The organization denied involvement at the time.

In the same project viewers?

Fears that Israel’s devastating war in Gaza could turn into a wider regional conflict have been raised to varying degrees of alarm since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.

The “key players” have at times appeared to be walking to the brink, but tensions have de-escalated due to the serious consequences of an all-out war in the Middle East.

But almost every week another violent incident occurs that puts the region on high alert once again, with fears that an all-out war would affect the entire region, as well as Israel’s main ally, the United States.

In August, Iran vowed retaliation against Israel for the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, which came a day after a Hezbollah commander was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut.

For months, the international community has been trying to de-escalate tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. This continued on Friday with the emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.

While the Hezbollah leader has previously said he does not want an all-out regional war, experts said he may now be under greater pressure to act after the spate of bombings and with Israel beginning to shift its military targets to the northern border. of.