Mystery Surrounds Fate of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah

Mystery still surrounds the fate of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, after the occupiers launched a raid in the southern suburbs of Beirut yesterday, Friday, which it claimed targeted Hezbollah’s central headquarters in Haret Hari.

To date, Hezbollah has not issued a statement about its secretary-general, while a senior Israeli official said it was “too early to say whether the strike hit Nasrallah.”

Hezbollah’s Position

Professor of International Relations Ali Matar explained that Hezbollah is facing a very big aggression today, and therefore should contain what happened, absorb the shock and then start dealing with this incident.

Speaking to Al-Arabi TV from Beirut, he added that it is not possible to talk about any military operation until Hezbollah talks about the attempt to kill Nasrullah.

“We have to wait until Hezbollah decides and what it will do on the ground,” Matar said, noting that the region has become an abyss, we have passed this stage and it has widened.

Comparison to Gaza Strip

When he compared what happened in the southern suburbs of Beirut to what is happening in the Gaza Strip, Matar pointed out that the Israelis today are clearly implementing what he calls the “suburb doctrine”, which is based on hitting all infrastructure in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

He added that Israel is taking the territory under all circumstances and we must wait whether the occupation will launch a ground attack simultaneously with the airstrikes, or be satisfied with this attack.

Matar continued: “If there is a ground attack, the region will be exposed to a massive war and there will be no possibility of going back.”

US Diplomacy

When he pointed out that the United States was talking about diplomacy, Matar asked: “How is this diplomacy going to happen under fire?”

Israeli Army’s Claim

On Friday evening, the Israeli army claimed that the violent attack in the southern suburb targeted Hezbollah’s central headquarters in Haret Harik. Israeli television stations said the group’s secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, was the target.

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari announced during a press conference: “We are in the process of verifying the results of the attack on Hezbollah’s central general headquarters.”

Aftermath of the Raid

The raid caused a great noise to reverberate through Beirut and its surrounding areas and spread fear and panic among the residents.

According to Agence France-Presse, the attack occurred at 15:30 GMT, causing widespread destruction and large craters up to five meters in diameter in an area full of residential buildings.