Israeli killing of Hezbollah leader roils Lebanon, Iran

Woman mourns Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah at site of his death

(Image credit: AFP via Getty Images)

published 30 September 2024

What happened

On Sunday Israel attacked Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen and Hamas in Gaza, hitting the three Iran-backed proxies as it amassed troops along its northern border for a possible ground invasion of Lebanon. Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon over the weekend killed longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other top leaders of the militant group. Two weeks of Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon, displaced up to a million others and nudged the region toward all-out war.

Nasrallah's death is "major blow to Iran," weakening Tehran's "best armed and most well-equipped ally in the region," Reuters said. In a show of "nervousness by the Iranian authorities," Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been "taken to a secure location." The crumbling of Hezbollah has opened "fissures" in Iran's government, The New York Times said. Significantly, Khamenei "signaled that it would be Hezbollah, not Iran," that struck back, suggesting he's choosing "lying low in the interest of self-preservation" over "all-out war with Israel."

Israel didn't just kill Nasrallah and his senior leadership team, it also "eviscerated decades of myths and assumptions about Hezbollah's military might" and its stature as a "regional powerhouse," The Washington Post said. Hezbollah "appears to have gravely overestimated its own strength and underestimated Israel's willingness to take it on" and the "extent to which Israeli intelligence had penetrated the organization."

Hezbollah may have "become a victim of its own hubris," The Wall Street Journal said, but "Israel now risks falling into a similar trap, especially if it launches a ground invasion of Lebanon," where Hezbollah "retains thousands of battle-hardened fighters and a large arsenal." Hezbollah is expected to pick Hashem Safieddine, head of its executive council and Nasrallah's cousin, as its new leader.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.