Hezbollah leader's killing sparks joy and rage across the Middle East
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Israel’s killing of Hassan Nasrallah was met with joy and rage across the Middle East, opposing reactions that expose the deep divisions in the region.
Hezbollah confirmed that its leader of 32 years was killed in Lebanon by an Israeli airstrike, and offered condolences for others killed with him, after what the group called a “treacherous Zionist raid on the southern suburb” of Beirut.
It described Nasrallah as “a great martyr, a heroic, bold, brave, wise, insightful, and faithful leader,” and would remain, despite his death, “still among us with his thought, spirit, line and sacred approach.”
In Washington, President Joe Biden in a White House statement said Nasrallah and Hezbollah “were responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four-decade reign of terror.”
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The president called Nasrallah’s death “a measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians.” He also reiterated full support for “Israel’s right to defend itself against Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and any other Iranian-supported terrorist groups.”
The Israeli military said the Hezbollah leader was killed at his main headquarters underneath a residential building in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh. It said Hezbollah’s acting deputy, Ali Karki, and other Hezbollah commanders were among those killed as they were planning further attacks on Israel.
To highlight the attack’s potential to ignite an even wider Middle East conflict, the semiofficial Iranian news agency, Mehr, reported that an operational head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, Brig. Gen. Abbas Nilforoushan, had also been killed in the strike. Iran has long financed and supported Hezbollah, while also supplying weapons and missile technology to the group.
Israelis celebrated the killing
The attack on Hezbollah’s headquarters took place just after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the U.N. General Assembly. An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with protocol, said Netanyahu greenlit the strike before he delivered his address.
In his first public remarks on Friday’s attack, Netanyahu said the assassination of Nasrallah, who he described as “the architect” of a plan to “annihilate” Israel, was an “essential condition” for Israel to achieve its war goals.
The mood among Israelis was jubilant. One Tel Aviv apartment building blasted a song with the Hebrew lyrics: “Oh Nasrallah, we’ll take you down, God willing, and send you back to God along with all of Hezbollah.” At a beach in southern Israel, a lifeguard announced to beachgoers over a loudspeaker: “With happiness, joy and cheer, we announce officially that the rat Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated yesterday. The people of Israel live.”
The Israeli military ordered limitations on public gatherings in central Israel in a sign that the country was preparing for possible retaliatory strikes by Hezbollah or other Iran-supported militias.
In the past few days, thousands of reservists have also been called up and deployed to the country’s border with Lebanon, as Hezbollah continues to trade rocket fire with Israeli ground forces using artillery and tanks.
Meanwhile, senior figures across the Israeli political spectrum and the country’s military leaders praised the assassination. “He was an immediate threat to the lives of thousands of Israelis and other citizens,” said the country’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant. “This action closed a long-standing account with the arch-murderer Nasrallah, whose hands were covered with the blood of thousands of civilians and soldiers.”
“Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorize the world,” said Daniel Hagari, the spokesperson for the Israeli military. “Justice has been served.”
Iran announced days of mourning
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned what he called an Israeli massacre in Lebanon, and vowed that the fate of the Mideast will be determined by "the forces of resistance, with Hezbollah at the forefront." Iran announced five days of mourning for Nasrallah.
Khamenei told Muslims to stand by the people of Lebanon and Hezbollah to confront Israel. Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, called Nasrallah’s killing a war crime.
Since Hezbollah began sending missiles into northern Israel on Oct. 8, a day after the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel, the group has fired 9,300 rockets, killing 49 people and wounding 372, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office. The Lebanese health ministry separately announced Saturday that more than 1,000 people had been killed in Lebanon over just the past 10 days, including dozens of women and children. More than 6,000 had been wounded, it said.
Tens of thousands of Lebanese have fled the country’s southern and eastern regions that have borne repeated Israeli strikes in the past week. And many have also been pouring over the border to neighboring Syria, Syrian journalist Danny Makki told NPR, speaking from the capital Damascus.
“Syrians are more concerned at the moment with getting them to safety, and helping them in the humanitarian sense,” Makki said, while acknowledging the broader impact of the Hezbollah leader’s death. “Nasrallah is a very huge individual in the region and has been part and parcel of the politics of the Middle East.”
In Syria, where Hezbollah has backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s brutal civil war, people in Idlib province celebrated on the streets, Syrian journalist Fared Al Mahlool told NPR. “People are happy to hear it. … Too many people have been displaced, killed, and lost loved ones because of Nasrallah’s support to the Syrian regime. They took part in destroying several cities and displacing so many people,” he said.
Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the two main militant groups in Gaza that have been labeled as terrorist organizations by the United States and several other nations, were defiant. Islamic Jihad said it was “fully confident” that Nasrallah’s death would “increase the strength, steadfastness and determination of the resistance in Lebanon, Palestine and the region,” while a statement released by Hamas said history showed the deaths of leaders such as Nasrallah meant they would be “succeeded on the same path by a generation of leaders who are more valiant, stronger and more determined.” Hamas senior figure Khalil al-Hayya, speaking on Al Jazeera, said the souls of Nasrallah and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh — assassinated in July — “are inside the birds of heaven.”
In Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, there were massive demonstrations Saturday night, with people vowing to continue resistance.
Iraqi state television announced a three-day period of mourning to honor the martyrdom of Nasrullah. On the station’s official website, it said: “This heinous crime will enhance the spirit of resistance in people's hearts and enhance the will of victory in facing the mean Zionist entity.”
Some members of Iraq's parliament cried on television on the news of Nasrallah’s assassination. One lawmaker vowed that his death would “open the gates of fire against Zionists.”
Russia's foreign ministry issued a statement condemning the killing of Nasrallah, saying it "is fraught with even greater dramatic consequences for Lebanon and the entire Middle East." Moscow called on Israel to stop hostilities aimed at Lebanon.
Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, in a post on X, said he had spoken with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Saturday. "We agreed on the need for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the bloodshed," Lammy said, adding that "a diplomatic solution is the only way to restore security and stability for the Lebanese and Israeli people."
Copyright 2024, NPR
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