Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator
Hezbollah has announced the death of the General Secretary of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah almost 24 hours after the September 27 massive Israeli attack on the Hreik neighborhood in south Beirut which resulted in the assassination of Nasrallah and others.
Israel used several missiles to level six high-rise residential buildings, and then delivered a 2,000-pound ‘bunker-buster’ payload, aiming for the Hezbollah headquarters underneath the buildings.
Beirut will never be the same after Israel gave the signal to drop the bomb which has ignited the spark to set the region on fire and may take years to put out.
Fawaz A. Gerges, Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) recently, “I pray for Lebanon tonight. The killing of hundreds a day is not normal nor should it ever be. What Israel is doing, armed and funded by the United States, will not bring long-term security to Israel. It is brutal and senseless and risks wider conflict and bloodshed. Enough.”
Hours after the attack, but before the announcement of Nasrallah’s death, Gerges was interviewed by CNN, where he warned the attack on Nasrallah could trigger all-out war.
According to Firas Abiad, Health Minister of Lebanon, 11 people were killed and 108 injured in Israeli strikes yesterday. More than 700 people have been killed by the Israeli bombing campaign across Lebanon since Monday.
Iraq’s Prime Minister, Shia al-Sudani, has announced three days of mourning after the death of Nasrallah, who he described as “a martyr on the path of the righteous”.
Al-Sudani called the Israeli bombardment of southern Beirut and assassination on Friday a “shameful attack” and “a crime that shows the Zionist entity has crossed all the red lines”.
Jean-Luc Melenchon, a French politician and former Member of the European Parliament, wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Appalled by the scale of the ongoing massacre in Lebanon. Netanyahu is violating the sovereignty of states throughout the region with the complicity of Europe and the USA. The genocide in Gaza is spreading without limits.”
Hezbollah is a Lebanese resistance group and a political party. The resistance movement aims to resist the Israeli occupation of Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria. The over-arching goal is to end the occupation. The International Court of Justice has judged the Israeli occupation of Palestine to be illegal under international law.
The resistance is demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. Until then, Hezbollah has vowed to keep attacking Israel with missiles that are aimed at Israeli military targets.
However, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has decided to thwart all efforts by US President Joe Biden, or others, to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza, which would end the threat from Hezbollah in the north as well.
Instead, Netanyahu and his ultra-extremist coalition partners, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, have decided to occupy Gaza, a crackdown on the West Bank, and start a full-fledged war in Lebanon. Peace efforts fall on deaf ears in Tel Aviv.
Recently, the Biden administration proposed a ceasefire in Lebanon, and Netanyahu rejected it before he even acknowledged its existence.
From the outset of the current conflict, which soon will mark a first anniversary, Biden has continued to supply Israel with weapons and cash, even breaking rules set at the US State Department concerning weapons going to any country which may use them against international law, or in war crimes.
Despite the State Department resignations and other serious international and domestic criticism, Biden has continued to support the genocide in Gaza, and the added attacks on Lebanon. Biden holds the keys to the supply of weapons and cash to the Israeli war machine. With one order and one phone call Biden could shut down the Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people, who live without any form of human rights. But, Biden will never take that step.
If Biden stood for international law, and against war crimes, it would result in the activation of AIPAC, which holds extreme political power over every elected person in the US, and especially the Oval Office. If Biden were to stand for the American values of freedom and independence for Palestine, VP Kamala Harris would never win the election in five weeks.
Taking out one leader of Hezbollah will not end the resistance, which is an ideology. Leaders have come and gone before, each leaving their mark on their followers.
Antoun Saade was executed in Beirut in 1938—founder of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.
Rageb Hareb was assassinated by Israel in the 1980’s in the south.
Abbas al-Musawi was assassinated by Israel in south Lebanon on February 16, 1992—former secretary-general of Hezbollah.
Ahmad Yasin was assassinated by Israel in March 2004 in Gaza.
Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi was assassinated by Israel on April 17, 2004, in Gaza.
Qasem Soleimani was assassinated by the USA on January 3, 2020, in Baghdad.
Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated by Israel in July 2024 in Tehran.
Resistance to the occupation of Palestine is an ideology and will never go away as long as Israel continues their racist, apartheid state which grabs land through illegal maneuvers and against international laws.
Experts have warned that Israel’s current planning includes annexing Gaza and the West Bank, while some experts have added the south of Lebanon as a new aim for a land-grab, disguised as a security zone.
In the coming hours, days, or weeks the world will be watching events unfold in Lebanon. The threat of a major conflict not seen in the region for 50 years is now at its highest point.
Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award-winning journalist.
