Over the weekend, Israel also took out Hassan Khalil Yassin, a senior member of Hezbollah’s intelligence arm.
Nasrallah assassinated: On Friday, Israeli strikes killed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s longtime leader.
The assassination marks a new phase of the conflict between Israel and the Lebanon-based, Iran-backed terrorist group, Hezbollah. Though the conflict has been simmering since Hamas‘ October 7 attack on Israel, after which Hezbollah started striking the reeling nation, the last 12 days have seen significant escalations including Hezbollah firing a long-range missile at Tel Aviv (on September 25) and Israel most likely responsible for a September 17 attack in the form of thousands of pagers exploding, taking out several members of the terrorist group. In the last nine or so days, more than 700 Lebanese have been killed with some 250,000 displaced; many fear this most recent round of fighting will be even more deadly than the 2006 war between the two countries.
But it’s also possible Israel will be able to make more headway at stamping out terrorist influence in the region, building on some of its victories over Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said over the weekend that killing Nasrallah was critical if residents of northern Israel are to ever return to their homes, and that the leader was „the main engine of Iran’s axis of evil.“
The Israeli military reports that it was able to successfully breach Hezbollah’s underground headquarters beneath Beirut to carry out Nasrallah’s killing by using 2,000-pound bombs; a video published by the Israeli military showed eight planes fitted with more than a dozen 2,000-pound bombs which are sometimes known as „bunker busters“ precisely because they can cause damage deep underground.
„Hezbollah has acknowledged only 10 members‘ deaths—including Mr. Nasrallah’s—since Israel’s intensified air offensive on Monday“, reports The New York Times, „suggesting it may be unable to keep track of losses or is trying to conceal them.“ Over the weekend, Israel also took out Hassan Khalil Yassin, a senior member of Hezbollah’s intelligence arm.
Fentanyl wars: Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, visited the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday and said she would „make it a top priority to disrupt the flow of fentanyl coming into the United States“ by taking a crack at the „global fentanyl supply chain“ and „doubl[ing] the resources for the Department of Justice to extradite and prosecute transnational criminal organizations and the cartels.“
Her opponent former President Donald Trump somehow read this as…Harris wanting to legalize fentanyl?
„She even wants to legalize fentanyl“, said Trump the next day, at a speech in Wisconsin.
