Hezbollah chief’s death a major hit to Iranian terror

Whatever ructions it causes, Israel’s eliminating of fanatical Hezbollah terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah, who has plotted against it and attacked it for 30 years, is a breakthrough that will make it clear to Hezbollah, Hamas and their masters in Tehran that the Jewish state will not allow itself and its people to be destroyed. Terrorist leaders who remain following the death of several of their most powerful and heavily guarded leaders would do well to heed the words of Israel Defence Forces chief General Herzi Halevi. When it was announced on Saturday that Nasrallah had perished in Israel’s massive attack on Hezbollah’s headquarters, secreted beneath civilian homes and schools in south Beirut, he said: “This is not the end of the tools in the toolbox.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was equally pointed when he delivered an unforgettable speech at the UN in New York on Friday: “Israel yearns for peace … Yet we face savage enemies who seek our annihilation, and we must defend ourselves against them … Israel will not go gentle into that good night.’’

The past two weeks of Israeli attacks have almost entirely decapitated Hezbollah, which had the most powerful non-state army in the world, of about 100,000 troops (bigger than Lebanon’s), armed with 150,000 rockets supplied by Iran. But the assassination of Nasrallah, who effectively ran Lebanon, is so consequential that it is not far short of that. It amounts to a massive setback for Islamist terrorists, exposing how inferior they and their Iranian masters are against ingenuity and determination. Nasrallah was Tehran’s main man in the Middle East, the key to the Iranian ayatollahs’ lunatic ambition to “annihilate” Israel and its people, and achieve regional hegemony. Friday’s bombardment showed Israel knew precisely where he was and exactly how to “get” him – just as it did in July when it took out top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the heart of Tehran when he was a heavily guarded VIP guest at the swearing in of the new President.

As the first anniversary of the October 7 slaughter of 1200 Jews approaches, recent developments leave no doubt that Israel has recovered from the gross intelligence failure that failed to stop that massacre. Its experience last year was a lesson to the West about the cost of failed deterrence, and what is required to restore it. Israel let down its guard against Hamas a year ago and paid a terrible price. It will not repeat that mistake with Hezbollah, showing yet again it is one of the world’s most formidable fighting forces, after exhibiting remarkable restraint for almost a year in response to Hezbollah’s 9000 rocket and missile attacks that began on October 8 last year. No country can tolerate such attacks. Israel changed tactics, away from tit-for-tat responses to a pre-emptive campaign to degrade Hezbollah’s missile stores, launchers and leadership. All are legitimate targets in war. It is tragic when civilians are also killed, especially innocent bystanders. But as in Gaza, much of that in Lebanon is down to the terrorists. Nasrallah, who knew he was a marked man, located his hideout under residential buildings. For the long-suffering Lebanese people, Nasrallah’s demise may even, finally, offer a path out of conflict. But it will take time.

Israel’s campaign has been a remarkable display of intelligence, technological skill, and political will. The sabotage of Hezbollah’s pagers and walkie-talkies was ingenious. Its targeted bombings showed how deeply Israeli intelligence has penetrated the terrorists’ communications.

As a small nation of 9.3 million people, Israel was compelled to act contrary to the advice of its allies. Joe Biden had the sense on Saturday to call Nasrallah’s death a “measure of justice”. Regrettably, he could not resist another plea, through the UN of all anti-Semitic places, for a ceasefire to be negotiated. A ceasefire is more likely when Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran are out for the count. Israel would have loved a ceasefire that allowed its 60,000 displaced citizens to return to their homes in the north, as The Wall Street Journal editorialised. Hezbollah had no such intentions. That is why Mr Netanyahu had no choice but to ignore the call by Mr Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and others, including Foreign Minister Penny Wong, for a ceasefire. Senator Wong was right, addressing the UN, when she said any future Palestinian state under a two-state solution “must not be in a position to threaten Israel’s security’’. In calling for a ceasefire on the Israel-Lebanon border and for a pathway to a two-state solution, however, she showed how far out of touch she is with the reality of what is happening in the Middle East.

Former Labor minister Mike Kelly, co-convener of Labor Friends of Israel, was spot on when he said “none of the preconditions existed’’ for a Palestinian state to be recognised in the near term.

On an international stage, Senator Wong’s carping sounded poorly informed and shallow. It was more to do with domestic politics and Labor’s chances of holding seats with large Muslim populations in western Sydney. Yet at key junctures in world affairs, governments must rise above local issues.

Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pledged revenge for Nasrallah’s death. Through its proxies, it could try to strike back. Yet as Mr Netanyahu warned, Israel can reach anywhere. The broader situation also underlines why, from a Western perspective, Iran must be prevented from gaining a nuclear capacity.