Israeli media: Nasrallah will respond strongly | Politics

Israeli analysts expected in their discussions that the Lebanese Hezbollah would respond to Israel, and they considered the assassination of Hezbollah military leader Ibrahim Aqil in an air strike that targeted the southern suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut a “rare opportunity.”

Yossi Yehoshua, a military affairs analyst for Channel 24 and Yedioth Ahronoth, said that Israel is in a state of turmoil in the face of Hezbollah and Iran, noting that estimates in Israel confirm that Hezbollah will respond.

He added, “Israel must know how Hezbollah will respond, and whether these events will lead to the return of residents to their homes or not?” He expected these developments to be “some kind of lever towards a more comfortable settlement for Israel.”

Channel 13 military affairs correspondent Or Heller believes that “Nasrallah will respond, and he will respond with force and much faster… and the response is coming.”

In the same context, Channel 12 military affairs correspondent Nir Dvori stated that Israel has entered a different phase in the confrontation with Hezbollah, and “if Hassan Nasrallah (Secretary-General of Hezbollah) wants to stop, and if he does not want to, the pace and escalation will be increased.”

What worries Channel 13’s military affairs correspondent, Alon Ben David, is that he does not see long-term plans for Israel if it goes to war. “How can it be ended? And what achievement will it bring?”

Kan 11 military affairs correspondent Itai Blumenthal quoted Defense Minister Yoav Galant as saying that Israel has entered a different phase of the war, noting that they in the security services and at the political level realize that a political settlement cannot be reached through diplomatic means.

He expected that the Israeli army would continue its operations against Hezbollah, “either through extensive attacks, or by assassinating senior leaders, or by intensifying air force operations.”

Blumenthal considered the assassination of Hezbollah leader Aqil “an exploitation of a rare opportunity afforded to the army’s intelligence division, which was able to obtain immediate and accurate intelligence information that Aqil was in an underground location in a building in the southern suburb of Beirut.”