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Hezbollah says Shukr’s fate is not yet known
The Lebanese armed group has issued a preliminary statement on the Israeli attack on Beirut. It said its commander Fuad Shukr, also known as Hajj Mohsen, was present in the building at the time of the attack, but said his fate is not yet known.
The attack caused “significant destruction to several floors of the building”, it said.
“Since the incident, civil defence teams have been diligently working to remove the rubble, albeit slowly due to the condition of the destroyed floors. We are still awaiting the outcome of this operation concerning the fate of the esteemed leader and other citizens in this location,” it added.
Earlier, Israel claimed to have killed the Hezbollah commander, but sources from the Lebanese armed group claim he had survived.
A view shows a damaged building the day after an Israeli strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs, on July 31
Failure to protect Haniyeh may prompt Tehran to take action
Abas Aslani, a fellow at the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies in Tehran, spoke to Al Jazeera a little earlier about the security implications for Iran after the assassination in its capital city of Hamas’s political chief Haniyeh.
“What happened in Tehran was a bad thing for the Iranian security apparatus…and that’s why Iran will somehow feel it has to respond to this,” Aslani told Al Jazeera. “This is not good news for the security apparatus in Tehran,” Aslani said.
“That’s why I think a retaliation or a response from the Iranian side might be inevitable… But I’m not quite sure about the quality [of any response] yet,” he said. “I think it is yet to be determined,” he added.
“But this was, from a security perspective, very significant for Iran.”
Air attack targeted Haniyeh in early hours of morning: Reports
Iranian media are reporting that the Hamas leader was killed by an “airborne guided projectile” that hit the residence where he was staying in the north of the capital, Tehran. According to reports, the attack took place at about 2am local time (22:30 GMT on Tuesday) at a special residence for military veterans in the north of the city.
Prospects for a ceasefire more distant than ever
Haniyeh was a political figure, and a pragmatic one. He was known for maintaining very positive relations with Palestinian leaders from all factions – a reason why we have seen a rush of expression of solidarity.
One would expect that the hardliners in Hamas would now be in a better position to dictate its agenda. It would be very difficult to see that the talks that were trying to keep the ceasefire alive would have any traction at this point.
Maybe there wouldn’t be a dramatic change in the dynamics on the ground in Gaza when it comes to fighting, but certainly the prospects of a ceasefire urgently needed … are more distant than they have ever been.
