Nasrallah. 'Don't distract attention away from flotilla'
Photo: AFP
Report: Hezbollah nearly assassinated senior Israeli figure
Kuwaiti newspaper reports Shiite group 'managed to follow' Israeli figure deemed 'fat fish' while on vacation. According to report, 'assassination' was not carried out because of Gaza flotilla incident
"Hezbollah almost assassinated a senior Israeli figure," reported officials close to the organization to Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai, which ran the item on Tuesday.
The report is not corroborated by any other source.
The newspaper reported that Hezbollah "managed to follow" an Israeli official deemed a "fat fish" while he was on vacation at a resort. Reportedly, Hezbollah cells stationed on the site nearly assassinated the Israeli, but the operation was called off at the last minute over the Gaza-bound flotilla raid three weeks ago.
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According to the sources, Hezbollah chose to cancel the hit so as not to provide Israel an opportunity to diverge world attention from "the Israeli piracy operation on international waters." The sources claimed that the Israeli official was "rewarded his life" and that he was called to return to Israel in order to deal with various aspects of the flotilla affair.
Ever since the February 2008 assassination of Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus, Hezbollah has emphasized that the organization will respond when and where it sees fit.
The newspaper also reported that a "shadow war" is being waged between Israel and Hezbollah. The newspaper quoted a report from Russian news agency Novosti at the beginning of the month that Israel nearly assassinated Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah.
According to the Russian report, Israel had at least two opportunities to assassinate him in recent months. It was also reported that an Israeli manless drone located Nasrallah near the Hezbollah security headquarters in the Dahiya quarter of south Beirut.
'Bank of Israeli targets if Nasrallah killed'
The newspaper also reported that Hezbollah has declined comment on the publication, but that sources close to the organization reported that Hezbollah leadership has already issued directives on how to respond should Nasrallah or any other top-ranking leader, be they military or political, be assassinated.
According to these sources, the directives stipulate that hundreds of missiles be launched towards a bank of targets in the Dan metropolitan area and thousands of other missiles be fired into other areas in Israel. According to the newspaper, the organization will view the assassination of Nasrallah as a declaration of war. As such, the newspaper reported, the response will be automatic and will not require any additional authorization from the organization's leadership.
It was also reported that the bank of targets within Israel will be pre-prepared, and their coordinates laid out. The targets reportedly include military, security, and leadership targets. They emphasized that Hezbollah will not respond with "tolerance" in the next conflict as it did when Mughniyeh was assassinated, though they have yet to abandon their threat to avenge his death.
