After several hours of speculation, on Saturday, September 28th, Hezbollah confirmed that their longtime leader, Hassan Nasarallah, has been assassinated by Israeli airstrikes. Israel has been bombing and striking Beirut, greater Lebanon, and Syria in addition to Gaza for the past few weeks in retaliation and scouring for Hezbollah members. In this attack in a southern suburb, several residential buildings were hit, causing six to die and more than 90 injured. Those numbers are expected to rise.
The death of Nasarallah, who has been leading the Iranian-backed group for 32 years, has created a new phase of the war. Hezbollah has declared war on Israel and attacked them since October 8th in solidarity with Hamas. Nasarallah was adamant that Hezbollah would continue to fight against their neighbors for as long as Gaza is under fire. Now, the seat of head power for the internationally recognized terrorist group is empty and whoever is to fill it will have to decide to keep Nasrallah's policy or call for a ceasefire. Through the near year of this war, Iran, who backed Hezbollah and granted aid to Hamas, has tried to avoid a regional war. However, this attack comes almost two months after Israel kills top Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran. Whether officially or not, Iran is a key player in this war and likely one of the only Middle Eastern powers to have any possible chance to go against Israel. If they will be willing to take the chance, only time will tell but what is known is that the time is running out for the people of Gaza and now the people of Lebanon as attacks continue.