Israel commemorated the victims of the assassination, targeting Hamas’s one-year anniversary attacks, which killed 1,200 and kidnapped 251. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was categorical that the country would never allow such an attack to happen again. According to him, “this is changing the security reality” in this region by Israel’s military.
Memorial events by all accounts seemed to escalate violence. Israeli forces destroyed over 100 rockets fired from Lebanon by Hezbollah while projectiles from the Houthis of Yemen and Hamas in Gaza were focused on Israel. Northern Israel was bombarded with heavy rockets as a number of towns were declared closed military zones as IDF expanded its ground operations across the Lebanese border.
This biggest development came as the IDF confirmed that it had killed Suhail Hussein Husseini, Hezbollah’s logistics commander, in an airstrike near Beirut. His role included management of Hezbollah’s war logistics and special operations. While Hezbollah has yet to comment on this strike, it appears to have come as a significant blow to the group, which continues rocket firings into northern Israel amidst sustained losses. Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have killed over 1,400 people and displaced more than a million, Lebanese authorities said on Tuesday.
The US supported Israel’s decision to attack Hezbollah. However, it warned that this “limited operation” may quickly get out of hand into a wider war. “There’s a very real danger of further regional escalation,” CIA Director William Burns warned, alluding to the role of Iran.
Internationally, memorials for the victims of the Hamas attacks were held in several countries including the U.S., UK, Australia, and Germany. Condemning the brutality of the Hamas attacks, U.S. President Joe Biden expressed his concern over the toll on civilians in the current war. Britain’s Labour party leader Sir Keir Starmer said the country should affirm Israel’s right to defend itself, while the UK prime minister called for both sides to “step back” from further military escalation against Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah says it will continue to resist Israeli aggression despite losing a top commander who was killed Saturday and other key commanders in recent Israeli strikes. The group continues to claim that it can resist the Israeli military’s aggression, even as the situation on the ground along southern Lebanon continues to deteriorate.
Israeli government said that it was ensuring areas close to the Lebanon border so the displaced residents may return and carry on their lives. Conflict after one year has been sparked after Hamas attack when Hezbollah launched rocket attacks, and Israel retaliated this morning with rocket strikes targeting villages, indicating that the violence still had a long way to go since the threat of a greater war hung over the region.