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5 August 2024

The Assassinations in Beirut and Tehran: The Tactical Advantages and Disadvantages

Yoram Schweitzer 

Israel is in a prolonged war on seven fronts, and the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’s Political Bureau, and Fuad Shukr, the senior Hezbollah official, is part of this situation. The message to Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran, and its partners in the axis is that Israel has not lost its power and is not the new “weak kid” in the region. Rather, it demonstrates determination and willingness to strike at the heart of its enemies’ strongholds with boldness, originality, and a demonstration of intelligence and precise operational capability. Moreover, the actions are intended not only for the enemies who are watching the military campaign but also for Israel’s partners and allies, in addition to strengthening the security and sense of security of the residents of Israel and the Jews in the diaspora.

But, as in any action, the two operations we saw yesterday have both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages of Fuad Shukr’s assassination:

1. This was a strong and necessary response to the murder of the youth in Majdal Shams. This was apparently the least powerful choice among the alternatives, and its probability of “ending” the event by mitigating this specific conflict is higher than the other alternatives.

2. Shukr’s assassination sent a clear message to Nasrallah about the exposure of his organization and its vulnerability; about completely changing the game of balancing the equations; and the determination to continue the “harvest of senior commanders.”

3. It also sent a clear message to Iran and its partners (as a reminder, a few hours later, the assassination of Haniyeh happened in Tehran).

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