Nasrallah's Murder: Dawn – Asia News NetworkAsia News Network

ISLAMABAD – On Friday, a massive Israeli bombing raid on Beirut resulted in the assassination of Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary general of the Lebanese pro-Iranian armed group Hezbollah. The organization confirmed the death of its leader on Saturday, and given Nasrallah's influence on Lebanese politics, regional geopolitics and Hezbollah's role as the vanguard of Iran's “Axis of Resistance,” this assassination is likely to send major shock waves throughout the Middle East.

Hezbollah has been engaged in a firefight with Israel since October 8, 2023, after Hamas began its armed invasion of the Zionist state. Israel has stepped up its attacks in Lebanon in recent weeks, launching a brutal bombing campaign on Monday that has left hundreds of Lebanese dead and displaced tens of thousands of people. Israel has also targeted many key Hezbollah commanders in recent months. Nasrallah's murder is the most devastating blow to the movement. But even if Tel Aviv achieved a tactical victory with the attack, it laid the foundation for a spiral of violence that will be very difficult to control.

It is obvious that Israel does not learn from history. Hassan Nasrallah's predecessor Abbas Musawi was also murdered by Israel in 1992 along with his wife and child. In the decades that followed, Nasrallah transformed Hezbollah – which was among the numerous sectarian militias that emerged from the turmoil of the Lebanese Civil War – into one of the strongest armed non-state actors in the region, which incidentally helped end the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000.

Likewise, the founder of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin – a wheelchair-bound cleric – was assassinated by Israel in 2004. His group is now a major political and armed force in the occupied Palestinian territories. The fact is that Israel's policy of murder and deception has been a dismal failure, as the groups it attacked vowed to hit back harder and, in many cases, made good on their promises.

For now, Hezbollah is dazed but remains defiant. In a statement, it vowed to continue “confronting the enemy.” Additionally, Iran's supreme leader has promised to stand by Lebanon and Hezbollah. From here the region enters extremely volatile territory.

Israel's blatant disregard for all human values, as manifested in its genocidal campaign in Gaza, and its reckless arrogance, as reflected in the assassinations of Nasrallah and former Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, suggest that Israel desperately seeks a confrontation with Iran and its allies in the Turkish region. And it is doing everything it can to drag the United States – its largest and most steadfast patron – into the vortex. Israel's bloodlust has therefore brought the world to the brink of a massive conflagration.