Hezbollah prepares hit list to avenge Mughniyeh killing

'Deck of cards' features top Israeli officials Shiite group holds responsible for Mughniyeh killing

Roee Nahmias|Published: 09.15.10 , 19:50

Hezbollah has prepared a deck of playing cards serving as a hit list of senior Israeli officials it holds responsible for the February 2008 assassination of senior member of the organization, Imad Mughniyeh, in Damascus. Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai Al-Aam has publicized a hit list of senior Israeli officials. At the top of the list, constituting the "ace card" is Mossad Director Meir Dagan.

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Roee Nahmias and Ynet

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The deck of cards was first conceived by the US army when it invaded Iraq in 2003. At the time, Saddam Hussein and his sons Uday and Qusay were the top three most wanted. According to the Kuwaiti newspaper, those following Dagan in the ranking are IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, IDF Intelligence Chief Amos Yadlin, Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Former Chief of Staff Dan Halutz.

Hezbollah cards featuring senior Israelis (Photo: Al-Rai Al-Aam)

Immediately following Mughniyeh's assassination, Hezbollah assured it would deal a severe retaliatory blow aimed at specific figures and locations, at the time and place of its choice. Last June the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai reported that the Shiite organization came close to assassinating a "senior Israeli official." Sources associated with Hezbollah told the newspaper that the militant group had "succeeded in trailing" an Israeli entity considered to be a "big fish" while he was on vacation.

According to the report, Hezbollah positioned forces in the vacation spot and almost succeeded in assassinating the Israeli, however the operation was aborted at the last minute due to the Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla. Sources reported that Hezbollah did not want to divert attention away from the flotilla raid and thus the Israeli target got off lucky and was called back to Israel.

Russian news agency Novosti reported during that same month that Israel had almost assassinated Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah. According to the report, Israel had at least two opportunities to kill Nasrallah at the beginning of 2010, after an Israel Air Force "Shoval" drone located him adjacent to Hezbollah headquarters in Dahiya, located south of Beirut.