Israel is targeting Hezbollah commanders like Ali Karaki, but will it work?

Sébastian SEIBT

25 September 2024 at 11:49 am·1-min read

Israel has activated a strategy to decapitate Hezbollah by taking out its top military commanders, including Ali Karaki, head of the Lebanese group’s southern front. An Israeli strike targeting Karaki this week put a spotlight on a shadowy figure within Hezbollah’s ranks, but experts are not convinced by Israel’s strategy in a powder keg region.

After a week of deadly attacks targeting Hezbollah’s leadership and military capabilities, the Lebanese-based Shiite militia group on Wednesday fired a missile that reached the Tel Aviv area for the first time ever before being intercepted by Israel's air defences, according to the Israeli military.

Hezbollah on Wednesday said it fired a Qader 1 ballistic missile targeting the headquarters of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency near Tel Aviv. The Israeli military said it struck the launcher which fired the missile in the Nafakhiyeh area of south Lebanon.

On Monday, as Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant was hailing “the most difficult week in Hezbollah’s history”, social media sites were awash with reports of the “elimination” or “liquidation” of Hezbollah commander Ali Karaki in an Israeli strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

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