Death of Nasrallah increases fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East.(CNN NEWS)_
From CNN’s Katie Bo Lillis and Natasha Bertrand.
The Israeli killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut has dramatically inflamed fears of a full-scale war in the Middle East — a possibility that US President Joe Biden’s administration has been desperately seeking for months to forestall, according to current and former US officials.
“I don’t see how this doesn’t go much wider soon,” said one senior Western official.
Hezbollah will almost certainly respond, according to Jonathan Panikoff, a former senior intelligence official specializing in the region, and Iran is likely to play a role.
“The response is likely to be big enough that the odds it will prompt a full-scale war will skyrocket,” Panikoff said.
There are some indications that Iran had already grown alarmed about the degree of damage Israel has been inflicting on Hezbollah, its most powerful and capable proxy militia in the region, according to a US military official.
A senior US official said the US believes Iran will intervene in the conflict if they judge that they are about to “lose” Hezbollah. The combined effects of Israel’s operations against Hezbollah had already taken hundreds of fighters off the battlefield, according to that official and another person familiar with the intelligence.
US officials have long assessed that senior Hezbollah leadership has wanted to avoid all-out war with Israel, even as fighting has intensified in recent months. The killing of Nasrallah is categorically different, however.
Hezbollah’s rank-and-file have long been agitating to play a bigger role in the fighting with Israel since October 7, and it now risks losing legitimacy in the eyes of its fighters and supporters if it does not offer a maximalist response to the killing of its leader, according to Panikoff.
The strike was also a clear signal of Israel’s willingness to risk a broader conflict, and that it was not close to accepting a ceasefire proposal backed by the US, according to Mick Mulroy, a former top Middle East official at the Defense Department. Hezbollah is also now unlikely to be interested in the negotiations.
Death of Nasrallah increases fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East.(CNN NEWS)_
Hamas and others aligned with Hezbollah mourn death of Hassan Nasrallah.
From Eyad Kourdi and CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq
Hamas issued a statement expressing condolences and solidarity with Hezbollah for the death of its leader Hassan Nasrallah and a number of senior officials from the group.
The militant group condemned Nasrallah’s assassination as a “cowardly aggression,” describing the Israeli airstrike that killed him and his associates as a “heinous crime,” and praising Nasrallah’s longstanding support for Palestinians.
Remember: Israel and Hezbollah have been in conflict for decades, but the fighting across the Lebanon-Israel border has intensified since Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel and the ensuing Israeli military offensive in Gaza. Hezbollah has said recent clashes with Israel are in solidarity with Hamas and the Palestinians killed by Israeli bombardment.
Hezbollah and Hamas are part of a larger Iran-led alliance of militant groups spanning Yemen, Syria, Gaza and Iraq.
More allies share condolences: Islamic Jihad in Palestine (PIJ) echoed Hamas’ sentiments, mourning the loss of a “giant Arab and Islamic figure who paved the path of victory for the nation.” They declared that his death would further “strengthen the resistance in Lebanon, Palestine, and the region.” The group hailed Nasrallah’s legacy, comparing his sacrifices to those of former Hezbollah leader Abbas Musawi.
Powerful Iraqi cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr announced three days of mourning in Iraq, referring to Nasrallah as a “companion in the path of resistance and defiance” in a statement on Saturday.