Earlier today, Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, addressed the nation after Israel took decisive action against its enemies. Netanyahu opened his remarks, stating, “In recent days, we delivered crushing blows to all of our enemies, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis. In the strike yesterday, we eliminated Nasrallah’s deputy, he was responsible for the murderous attack on Majdal Shams and one of the most wanted terrorists in the world. We settled the score and we will settle the score with all those who massacre our citizens” (i24 News).
Netanyahu was referencing the targeted elimination of Hezbollah senior military commander Fuad Shukr who was the right-hand man of Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah. “Israeli officials said the militant commander was behind the deaths of 12 children and teens in a weekend rocket attack on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights as well as the deaths of numerous Israeli civilians in previous rocket strikes on northern Israel” (CBS News).
In 2017, the U.S. State Department placed a $5 million reward for information leading to the location, arrest, or conviction of Shukr in any country, stating, “He’s also a member of the Jihad Council, Hizballah’s highest military body. Shukr plays a key role in Hizballah’s military operations in Syria, and he helped plan and launch the 1983 attack on U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut that killed 241 of our Marines” (State.gov).
Shukr was killed by Israel in the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, “making him the most senior figure from the group to be killed in nearly 10 months of conflict with Israel” (The Times of Israel). Hours ago, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported Milad Bidi, “an Iranian military advisor stationed in Lebanon was killed in the Israeli assassination” of Shukr (Al Arabiya News).
Less than 24 hours after Israel’s strike against Shukr, the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated around 2am in Tehran, Iran. Haniyeh was visiting Iran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. It is being reported that Haniyeh was not planning to stay overnight in Tehran but changed plans after Shukr was assassinated in order to meet with Iranian officials to discuss next steps against Israel. That same day, Haniyeh had also met with Iran’s Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Tehran.
Iranian media reported on Wednesday “that a bodyguard of Ismail Haniyeh. . . leaked critical information leading to his assassination. . . According to the report, an Israeli-made Spike short-range missile targeted Haniyeh’s bedroom. The missile was launched from a building close to where the Hamas leader was staying, with some reports suggesting it was fired from within Iranian territory” (i24 News).
The Biden administrations claims that they were not notified in advance of the assassination (Breitbart). That said, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said “We certainly will help defend Israel. You saw us do that April [when the US led coalition of forces that, together with Israel, almost completely thwarted an Iranian attack on Israel with hundreds of drones and missiles]. You can expect to see us do that again” (The Times of Israel).
The assassination of Haniyeh is a “huge embarrassment” to Iran, dealing a “critical blow to Iran’s security apparatus, exposing severe vulnerabilities and indicating deep foreign intelligence penetration within the Islamic Republic,” according to analysts (Al Arabiya News). Similar to Israel’s response to Iran’s attack in April, when Israel struck a major air base near a nuclear site in Isfahan (NBC News), “Analysts said that the assassination sent a clear message to Iran and its allies; they are not beyond Israel’s reach, even in Tehran. It also highlighted the extent of Israel’s covert capabilities within Iran” (Al Arabiya News).
During his speech, Netanyahu did not mention the assassination of Haniyeh and Israel has not officially taken responsibility for Haniyeh’s death. This has not kept Iran and Hamas from accusing Israel of being behind Haniyeh’s assassination. After convening an emergency meeting of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, the Ayatollah “ordered a direct strike on Israel” (i24 News).
Analysts submit that Iran may mirror their attack of Israel this last April, target Israeli nationals globally, escalate their nuclear activities, disrupt shipping lanes, or attack Israeli diplomatic sites. Analysts also “suggest that given the timing of the assassination – occurring just hours after the targeting of a top Hezbollah commander – it is likely to prompt a coordinated response from Iran and its allied militias” (Al Arabiya News).
According to Hamas sources, Khaled Mashaal “is expected to be chosen as the paramount leader of the group to replace Ismail Haniyeh” (The Jerusalem Post).
Blessors of Israel is closely monitoring this story and will provide the latest news with biblical commentary. Please continue to pray for Israel and her people.
by Dr. Matthew Dodd | July 31, 2024