Hezbollah still determined to retaliate for assassination of commander Shukr: Israeli media

By Said Amori

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli estimates indicate that the Lebanese Hezbollah group has not abandoned its desire to retaliate for the assassination of its military leader, Fuad Shukr, and is determined to do so “in the near future,” the state-run public broadcaster KAN reported Saturday.

“Estimates indicate that Hezbollah has not given up on its desire to carry out a retaliatory attack" in response to Shukr's assassination, the report said, citing high-ranking Israeli officials.

The officials added that the group's response “could happen at any moment in the near future, regardless of the ongoing negotiations in Cairo aimed at reaching a hostage swap deal with Palestinian factions in Gaza.”

According to the officials, the US has raised its alert level in the region, following indications from Western countries that Hezbollah remains committed to retaliating for Shukr's assassination, even if separately from Iran.

Previous reports mentioned that Israel is preparing for a number of potential scenarios, including an attack from Iran, from Lebanon, or a joint attack from the “Shiite axis.”

Dozens of Israeli fighter jets are ready and armed to thwart a possible Hezbollah attack, and the US has sent additional forces to the region, including aircraft carriers, according to the reports.

Fears of a full-fledged war between Israel and Hezbollah have grown amid an exchange of cross-border attacks and after the July 30 killing of senior Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukr in Beirut.

The escalation comes against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 40,300 Palestinians since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas incursion. The military campaign has reduced much of the territory to rubble and left most of the people homeless, hungry and prone to disease.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala