‘People are tense’: In Israel, fear amid likely Hezbollah, Tehran response
Israelis are bracing for a response to the assassinations this week of Hamas’s political chief and a commander with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, Israel-based analysts tell Al Jazeera.
Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, who was a key figure in the Gaza ceasefire negotiations, were killed within hours of each other in Beirut and Tehran respectively. Israel has not commented on Haniyeh’s killing but claimed Shukr’s. Israeli military planners said Shukr was behind a recent attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 children although Hezbollah has denied responsibility.
Israelis are bracing for a response to the assassinations this week of Hamas’s political chief and a commander with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, Israel-based analysts tell Al Jazeera.
Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, who was a key figure in the Gaza ceasefire negotiations, were killed within hours of each other in Beirut and Tehran respectively. Israel has not commented on Haniyeh’s killing but claimed Shukr’s. Israeli military planners said Shukr was behind a recent attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 children although Hezbollah has denied responsibility.
The assassinations have restored some level of public confidence in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and in the military after the October 7 attacks, widely seen by experts and the Israeli people as an intelligence failure, Israeli pollster and former Netanyahu aid Mitchell Barak said.
However, Barak added: “I don’t think anyone knows what’s going to happen now. I think everyone’s trying to work out what the response will be or where it’s going to come from.”
