Israelis are bracing for a response to the assassinations this week of Hamas’s political chief and a commander with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, Israel-based analysts tell media.
Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, who was a key figure in the Gaza ceasefire negotiations, were killed within hours of each other in Beirut and Tehran respectively. Israel has not commented on Haniyeh’s killing but claimed Shukr’s. Israeli military planners said Shukr was behind a recent attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 children although Hezbollah has denied responsibility.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has promised “harsh punishment” for Israel in retaliation for the killing of Haniyeh in the Iranian capital. Iran’s leaders have promised “harsh revenge“. As thousands in Tehran poured onto the streets to mourn the Hamas leader, top Iranian newspapers covered the event through themes of revenge, bereavement and defiance.
Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah, meanwhile, said a response is “inevitable“.
Anticipating such a response, Israel’s military said it was on “high alert”, according to Israeli media. They reported Israel was looking to finalise an international coalition to help deflect an attack.
In April after Israel struck the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Israel said with the help of the United States, the United Kingdom and France, it intercepted missiles and drones launched by Iran in an unprecedented attack.
Video footage from the Middle East Eye shot on the streets of Tel Aviv, Israel, showed a divided public mood. One woman said she “didn’t feel safe” and cancelled her plans on Wednesday morning after Haniyeh’s assassination. Another woman told the outlet people were “happy” about the assassination but were aware it could cause a larger war.
“People are tense, sure,” said Ori Goldberg, a Tel Aviv-based expert on Israeli politics. “There are fewer people on the street, there’s a general sense of anxiety, but it’s not anywhere near as hysterical as in October when people were convinced that Hezbollah was going to invade from the north,” he said, describing the days after the October 7 Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel. It was a fear that did not come to pass.
The assassinations have restored some level of public confidence in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and in the military after the October 7 attacks, widely seen by experts and the Israeli people as an intelligence failure, Israeli pollster and former Netanyahu aid Mitchell Barak said.
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