Report by Petra Abou Haidar, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi
Since the start of the Al-Aqsa Flood War and Hezbollah's support for Gaza, Israel's assassination campaign against Hamas, Hezbollah leaders, and their members have increased.
Starting with Hezbollah, the group's military body, the Jihad Council, has been targeted.
On Tuesday, an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs aimed at Hezbollah's military leader Fouad Shokor, marked a significant escalation in the targeting of top Hezbollah officials.
Shokor, who was on the US State Department's most-wanted list with a $5 million bounty for information leading to his capture, was a member of the Jihad Council, the highest military authority in Hezbollah.
According to the Alma Research and Education Center, the council consists of seven members headed by Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, including Quds Force Commander Esmail Qaani.
Shokor, responsible for military operations and acting as a military advisor to Nasrallah, played a crucial role in the 1983 bombing of US Marine barracks in Beirut, according to US officials. His assassination marks a significant blow to Hezbollah's military leadership.
In addition to targeting the Jihad Council, Israeli operations also struck Hezbollah's Shura Council.
On April 1, 2024, an attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, which targeted the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) operations room related to Lebanon, resulted in the death of Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the only Iranian member of Hezbollah's Shura Council, among others.
The wave of Israeli assassinations extended to numerous Hezbollah leaders and commanders, including:
Wissam al-Tawil, a senior member of Hezbollah's Radwan Force, was killed on January 8, 2024.
Taleb Abdallah Abu Taleb, commander of the "Nasr Unit" responsible for operations in the central border area and the Litani River, was killed on June 12, 2024, in a strike in Jouaiyya.
Mohammad Nehme Nasser, commander of the "Aziz Unit" responsible for the western Gaza Strip, was killed on July 3, 2024.
Turning to Hamas, the most significant blow since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Flood was the assassination of Hamas' political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday morning.
Before Haniyeh, Israel had also eliminated Saleh al-Arouri, who was the deputy head of Hamas' political bureau and a co-founder of the Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades, on January 2, 2024, in Beirut's southern suburbs.
The military wing of Hamas has also faced relentless assassination attempts as efforts to assassinate Yehya Sinwar, Hamas' Gaza leader, have so far failed.
Meanwhile, on July 13, 2024, a massive bombing targeted Mohammed Deif, commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades, in the Al-Mawasi area. While Israel has not officially confirmed his death, Hamas has denied his killing, maintaining ambiguity over the incident.
Israel has also claimed to have killed Marwan Issa, deputy commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades, in an airstrike on Nusairat in central Gaza, Hamas has not confirmed his death officially, unlike Haniyeh's.
In the latest round of targeted killings, Israel has struck the highest figures of both Hezbollah and Hamas, opening a full-scale assassination campaign with no apparent red lines in terms of target locations or timing.