By Nirob @Adobe Stock
Stephen KalinFollow, Summer Said, and Anat Peled of The Wall Street Journal report that the attack represents another security failure for Hezbollah reeling from repeated Israeli blows. They write:
Israel launched another major attack on Hezbollah on Friday, with a strike in the Lebanese capital that killed one of the militant group’s top commanders, as the risks rise of a broader conflict between the longtime adversaries.
The Israeli military said its airstrike had killed Ibrahim Aqil, who it said had run Hezbollah’s operations team and its Radwan special forces, and around 10 other senior commanders who had gathered underground in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Hezbollah confirmed Aqil’s killing, calling him one of its leaders. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported at least 14 dead and 66 wounded, with the toll expected to rise as rescuers search the rubble.
The strike represents a significant blow and another huge security failure for a group already struggling to recover from a week of airstrikes across southern Lebanon and covert attacks that caused electronic devices carried by thousands of the militant group’s members to explode virtually simultaneously. […]
On Friday, many of Hezbollah’s officials and members couldn’t be reached on their mobile phones. One official said the group was struggling to regroup amid worries about the extent to which its communications infrastructure was compromised by the Israelis.
“There is no doubt that we have been subjected to a major security and humanitarian blow that is unprecedented in the history of the resistance in Lebanon at least and unprecedented in the history of Lebanon,” Nasrallah said in a speech Thursday addressing the attacks on the group’s pagers and walkie-talkies that left at least 37 dead and nearly 3,000 injured. […]
Gerges said this week’s attacks wouldn’t alter the strategic calculations between Hezbollah and Israel.
“Anyone who knows Hezbollah quite a bit from the inside out will tell you that these attacks will harden Hezbollah’s stance and will make Hezbollah more determined to resist and continue on its path,” he said.
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