On August 30, at 8:00 pm. local time, Israel struck a four-story residential building in the southern section of Beirut, Lebanon.  The airstrike assassinated Fuad Shukr, killed three civilians, and injured 174 others.

Shukr was a senior military commander in the Lebanese resistance organization, Hezbollah, and was a founding member of its military wing.  Shukr is accredited with obtaining the bulk of the group’s more advanced weapons, which experts have said are on parity with those of Israel.

Israeli military planners had accused Shukr of a missile strike on July 27 that killed 12 children playing football in Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights.  The children were not Israeli citizens, or Jewish, but were Syrian Druze living under occupation on their own land.

Hezbollah denied responsibility for the strike, and said after investigation the missile was an Israeli air-defense missile which misfired.

Israeli ministers attempted to visit the funerals of some of the killed children, but were attacked verbally by parents and relatives, who blame the Israeli military for the massacre.

Netanyahu deflected blame on Hezbollah for the dead children, and used them to justify the assassination of Shukr.  If a regional war starts because of a lie, it won’t be the first time.  The US used 9/11 to justify the attack, invasion and occupation of Iraq based on what we know was a lie.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati of Lebanon condemned the “blatant Israeli aggression,” describing the assassination as a “criminal act” in a “series of aggressive operations killing civilians in clear and explicit violation of international law”.

Iran

At 2:00 am. Beirut time, just six hours after the Shukr assassination, Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated by an Israeli airstrike in Tehran, along with his bodyguard Wasim Abu Shaaban.

Hamas and Hezbollah are both part of the ‘axis of resistance’, which is formed by armed groups across the region.  They are united in the armed resistance of Israeli occupation of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as Israeli occupied areas in Lebanon and Syria.  The groups have been in military exchanges with Israel during the current Gaza war beginning on October 7. The groups have vowed to continue their struggle in support of the people of Gaza until Israel will stop the war.

Israeli media has reported that the missile that struck Haniyeh’s residence was launched from outside Iran, which would be a first for Israel.

Haniyeh had been living outside of Gaza since 2019, and was in Tehran for the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian which he attended just hours before his death.

Israel has previously sabotaged Iranian nuclear and military facilities and assassinated nuclear scientists from inside Iran.  In April, Israel launched an attack inside Iran on a military facility in Isfahan, and inflicted damage to a Russian-made S-300 missile defense system.

Iran’s Khamenei, Pezeshkian and IRGC have all promised retaliation for Haniyeh’s assassination, but have not disclosed their plans.  Haniyeh was a guest of the government of Iran when he was killed, and in the culture of the region, a guest is considered the responsibility of the host.

Iraq

About 8:00 pm. Beirut time, almost exactly timed with the Israeli attack on Beirut, the US carried out an attack inside a base south of Baghdad operated by Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) that killed four members of the group and wounded four others.

US officials described the attack as “self-defense” demonstrating coordination with the Israeli military’s assassination of Shukr in Beirut.

US officials, speaking off the record, said the US carried out an airstrike in Musayib, located in Babil province that targeted militants that the US supposed might launch drones on US forces in Iraq, in an unprovoked and pre-emptive deadly attack.

The Iraqi parliament had demanded the US military leave Iraq, and the Baghdad government held talks with the US on the subject of withdrawal, but as of yet the US has not complied with the Iraqi demands.

Iraq condemned the strike saying the US has committed a “heinous crime” by targeting security sites south of Baghdad and said the attacks were a serious violation of the US mission and mandate, an Iraqi military spokesman Yahya Rasool said in a statement.

The PMF is a division of the Iraqi Army, and fought alongside the US-led coalition in the fight to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

On July 24, President Joe Biden gave an Oval Office speech saying that he concluded in recent weeks that “the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation.”

Biden had bet his chances on winning re-election on delivering a win in Ukraine, and a ceasefire in Gaza.  On July 11, Netanyahu reneged on his promise to accept the Biden proposed ceasefire in Gaza, Biden and his advisors decided to throw in the towel. Biden is now a lame-duck President and the Oval Office is running on autopilot, which suits Netanyahu.

On July 24, Netanyahu delivered an address to a joint meeting of Congress. He received numerous standing ovations from the members who attended, while dozens of lawmakers boycotted his address and demanded a ceasefire in Gaza.

Netanyahu gaged his support in the Congress and knew then he could get away with murder, and stay out of jail. The US Congress had effectively given him the ‘green-light’ to do as he pleased.

John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M.Walt exposed AIPAC as the driving force which keeps the US foreign policy firmly under the thumb of Israel.

How Will Iran and Hezbollah Reply?

In a TV address on July 1, Hassan Nasrallah said the decision to reply has been taken, and Iran has made a similar statement.

Netanyahu may use the reply to attack nuclear facilities inside Iran, which has been an extremist goal for years.

Yair Lapid, Israeli opposition politician, met with Netanyahu on July 1 and told him to stop listening to Ithamar Ben-Gvir, the extremist ally of Netanyahu, and stop the war in Gaza.

The root cause of Middle East conflict is the occupation of Palestine.

On July 19, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said Israel should stop settlement activity in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem and end its “illegal” occupation of those areas and the Gaza Strip as soon as possible.

In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the court had made a “decision of lies”.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

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This article was originally published on Mideast Discourse.

Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award-winning journalist. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.