who is nasrallah who was "targeted for killing" by israel? where is lebanon headed? ｜international observation
2024-09-30
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cover news trainee reporter li qinhua
"i make it clear: regardless of the sacrifices, consequences or future possibilities, the lebanese resistance movement will not stop supporting gaza." after a series of communications equipment explosions, one of the most powerful people in the middle east, nass, who has not been seen for a long time lula delivered the above-mentioned public speech.
a week later, he was killed in a massive israeli airstrike.
on september 19, tv footage of hezbollah leader nasrallah delivering a speech was filmed in beirut, lebanon. source: xinhua news agency
according to xinhua news agency, the israeli military issued a statement on september 28 saying that lebanese hezbollah leader nasrallah and the organization's commander in southern lebanon ali karki were killed in an israeli air strike on the 27th. lebanon hezbollah later issued a statement confirming it.
at the same time, fighting is still spreading across lebanon. lebanon is going through what the united nations secretary-general has called "the bloodiest period in a generation."
li fuquan, deputy director of the institute of middle east studies at northwestern university and director of the iran studies center, previously said in an interview with a cover news reporter that at present, a large-scale military conflict between israel and hezbollah in lebanon is probably extremely difficult to avoid, but lebanon will not become a next gaza.
terrorist, or savior?
on september 27, local time, after israel spent nearly 20 years collecting intelligence on hezbollah, it carried out an air raid called "new order" on multiple residential buildings in the southern suburbs of beirut. it has rarely been made public since 2006. nasrallah who showed up was "targeted for killing". since then, 10 of hezbollah's 11 senior military commanders, including nasrallah, have died.
the israeli army said in a statement that nasrallah was the core decision-maker and strategic leader of hezbollah. he "killed a large number of israeli civilians and soldiers and planned and implemented thousands of terrorist activities."
in the eyes of his enemies, he is the leader of a terrorist organization and an agent of iran's shiite islamic theocracy in its struggle for influence in the middle east. in the eyes of his supporters, nasrallah, who is accustomed to wearing a black headscarf, is extremely charismatic. because of his opposition to israel and his contempt for the united states, he is regarded as the "savior" by tens of thousands of devout shiite muslims.
during his 32 years at the helm of the party, nasrallah oversaw the transformation of hezbollah into a military force with regional influence and even succeeded in realizing his own political ambitions, bringing hezbollah members into the lebanese parliament and government. , he is one of the most popular and widely reviled arab figures for generations.
but nasrallah’s role for hezbollah goes beyond this. al jazeera compared him to che guevara and castro because they were both revolutionary figures who also caused civilian deaths while pursuing political goals. fawaz gerges, a middle east scholar and professor of international relations at the london school of economics and political science, wrote that "nasrallah is the beating heart of hezbollah."
in a sense, nasrallah's fate and that of hezbollah are intertwined. he was born in a shiite muslim family in the suburbs of beirut in 1960. his father was a grocery store owner. when he was 16 years old, he left home and went to a seminary in najaf, iraq, a holy place for shiite muslims. here he met his mentor, the previous leader of hezbollah mousavi. the two were both from lebanon and soon became close friends. in 1992, mousavi was killed in an attack, and 32-year-old nasrallah took over the command of hezbollah.
in 1997, his eldest son mahdi, who was only 18 years old, was killed in fighting with israeli forces in southern lebanon. it was not until 2004 that israel returned his son's body as part of a hostage exchange plan. a son who became a martyr cemented nasrallah's reputation as a leader who suffered alongside his people and became an important political bargaining chip in his early days. but at the same time, nasrallah is also controversial for his party's corruption and excessive promotion of violence.
according to the new york times, after the news of nasrallah’s death was confirmed, a large number of people mourned the killing of nasrallah on the streets in the west bank, iraq, iran, pakistan and indian kashmir. but in parts of syria, where hezbollah has aided president bashar al-assad in his brutal crackdown on opposition, some are celebrating nasrallah's death.
the situation will worsen, but lebanon will not become the next gaza
nasrallah’s death has made the already complicated situation in the middle east more difficult to predict the future.
on september 28, local time, the palestinian islamic resistance movement (hamas), which is also a member of the "resistance axis", expressed condolences for the death of nasrallah in a statement and emphasized that nasrallah's death will only strengthen the the militant group's resistance. in a statement, hamas said: "the crimes and assassinations of the occupiers have only strengthened the determination and perseverance of the palestinian and lebanese resistance, and we will march in the footsteps of the martyrs with all our strength, courage and pride."
iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei called on "every effort to stand with the lebanese people and the proud hezbollah to help them fight (israel's) 'evil regime'." an iranian official said that khamenei has been moved to a safe location in iran.
it is unclear who will succeed nasrallah. senior commander nabil kawuk, who was once considered a candidate for taking over, was also confirmed to have been killed in an israeli air strike on the morning of september 29, local time. in just over a week, hezbollah's seemingly dominant fighting force has been greatly weakened. the outside world believes that there are two potential successors to nasrallah, one is his cousin and chairman of the hezbollah executive committee hashem safieddin, and the other is the chairman of the hezbollah sharia committee muhammad yazbek .
but it is undeniable that unlike hezbollah’s last leader, mousavi, who died in an israeli fighter bombing in 1992, nasrallah’s assassination will leave a huge void in lebanon and will also have a negative impact on hezbollah. the party and the political landscape of the middle east will have even more unknown and far-reaching impacts. lebanese french-language media oriental daily predicted that lebanese-israeli relations will suffer the most serious deterioration in decades.
regarding whether internal strife will occur within hezbollah in lebanon, li fuquan, director of the iran studies center at northwestern university, believes that although it is very difficult to achieve political reconciliation in lebanon and low-intensity conflicts will still exist, when hezbollah lacks the will and other political parties lack the ability, under the circumstances, the conditions for a large-scale civil war are not currently met. opposition and protests against hezbollah in lebanon have grown stronger since a series of bombings of hezbollah members' communications equipment, but anti-israel sentiment will be at an all-time high, and continued hatred will unite other shia sects.
niu xinchun, executive director of the china institute of arab studies at ningxia university, analyzed in an interview with the media that nasrallah was killed in the attack, and the situation between lebanon and israel may further deteriorate. li fuquan believes that for lebanon, although the current conflict with israel is unavoidable, israel's current military capabilities make it difficult to send large-scale troops into lebanon, which is extremely costly to israel. lebanon will not become the next gaza.
