The Israeli army has killed Hezbollah commander Salim Jameel Ayyash in an airstrike. According to the Times of Israel, Salim was hiding in al-Qusayr, a Hezbollah stronghold in Syria. Apart from Salim, 8 more people were killed in the Israeli army attack.
Iran's foreign ministry has criticized the attack and called for Israel's expulsion from the United Nations.
Salim was a member of Hezbollah's Unit 151. America had put a reward of 10 million dollars (Rs 84 crores) on him. He was responsible for the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Hariri was Lebanon's most popular Sunni Muslim leader. He has been the PM of the country 5 times.
On 14 February 2005, a truck loaded with 3,000 kg of explosives hit Hariri's convoy in Beirut. He died in this. 21 people who were with him were also killed in this attack.
A Lebanese man shouts for help to the injured after an explosion in Beirut.
According to the United Nations, explosives equivalent to 3,000 kg of dynamite were used in Hariri's assassination. The attack was so fierce that an 11 meter wide crater was created by the explosion.
Hezbollah refused to hand over Salim, accusing the Mossad of the murder The United Nations established the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) in The Hague, Netherlands, after Hariri's death. In the year 2022, the STL held 3 people, including Salim, responsible for Rafiki's murder and sentenced all of them to life imprisonment.
The tribunal said Salim Ayyash led the suicide squad that killed PM Hariri. This included two more people named Hassan Habib Merhi and Hussain Hassan Onassi.
After the murder, these three were absconding. The then Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah refused to hand over the trio to the tribunal. Nasrallah said the Mossad had Hariri killed to drive the Syrian army out of Lebanon.
Indeed, after the civil war broke out in Lebanon, Syria occupied the north-east of the country. Hariri has been pressuring Syria to vacate the area, but his efforts have not been successful. He was killed in the meantime.
Relations between Syria and Lebanon worsened after Hariri's assassination. Lebanon's local leaders pressured Syria to leave the country. Eventually, pressure was brought to bear on Syria from the United Nations, which led to Syria withdrawing its forces from Lebanon in April 2005, ending a 29-year occupation of the country.
However, Hezbollah was later blamed for Hariri's murder. Hezbollah resented the improving relations between Israel and Lebanon. Hariri built good relations with Israel. He succeeded in regaining South Lebanon by negotiating with Israel. Israel occupied the area for 18 years.
Israel's defense minister said – eliminating Nasrallah is a big achievement Meanwhile, Israel's new defense minister, Israel Katz, said on Sunday that his country had defeated Hezbollah. Katz also said that killing Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was Israel's greatest achievement.
Katz added that we need to keep up the pressure. He said Israel was not interested in Lebanon's internal politics, but he hoped Lebanon would join other countries in normalizing relations with Israel.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
