Abhijay Raj Vaish, Pune
Israel on Tuesday launched an airstrike on Beirut where it claimed to kill Hezbollah’s top military leader, Fuad Shukur. They claimed the strike to be in retaliation to a rocket attack that claimed the lives of 13 children three days ago. The Lebanese officials were caught off-guard by post assurances by Israel of a limited response that would curb the possibility of a full scale war. The Lebanon Prime Minister condemned the attack calling it a blatant aggression from the Israeli Forces.
The strike in Southern Beirut that allegedly killed the Hezbollah leader also claimed the lives of a woman and two children along with injuring 74 civilians in the area. The target of the attack was the right hand man of the Hezbollah leader and had a bounty of 5 million dollars on his head. The bounty was placed by the United States over his involvement in the bombing of the US maritime barracks in Beirut in 1983.
The United States had been involved in a diplomatic attempt aimed at preventing Israel from retaliation in order to prevent a full scale war. However, the attempt for peace proved futile as Israel attacked Hezbollah quarters in Hareit Hreik which is also a civilian center. Beirut was last attacked by Israel in January this year which led to the assassination of a top Hamas official.
This latest exchange has amplified the fears for an all-out war as no one expected Israel to attack the capital city of Lebanon. Hezbollah had previously warned the Israeli military that an attack of such nature would be met with fierce and decisive response. The tussle had been largely contained near the border region until now.
Both the nations have exchanged routine strikes in the past year given the war in Gaza. Hezbollah had also claimed that Israeli fighter jets had entered the Lebanese airspace which forced them to fire at them in order to push them back into their territory. The Lebanese cabinet is expected to meet today in light of the attack and discuss the plan going forward. The United Nations expressed their concerns over the attack and urged for calm to prevail in the region.