Occupied Jerusalem- Israel entered a state of maximum alert on all fronts and throughout the country, following the assassination of the leader of the Hamas movement. Saleh Al-ArouriOn Tuesday evening, in a bombing at a march in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
The Israeli security establishment is preparing for a scenario of a wide war on the Lebanon and Lebanon frontsGaza stripThe internal front in Israel is preparing for Hezbollah’s response with long-range missiles deep inside Israel, as well as for the infiltration of fighters from Lebanon into the border towns and the Upper Galilee.
The “war cabinet” was kept in permanent session at the headquarters of the Israeli Ministry of Security in Tel Aviv, with the participation of the leaders of the Army Chief of Staff, the security and military services, and the leaders of the Shin Bet and Mossad intelligence services, where the expected developments on the battlefields in the south and the Upper Galilee will be discussed. After the assassination.
Israel does not rule out paying a heavy price, as it is preparing for a broad response with missiles from the north as well as from Gaza, where statements are heard at the top of the political and military leadership to the effect that the person who ordered the assassination of Al-Arouri took into account that there would be a reaction, and was prepared for all possibilities, including a response. A smart, limited act or an all-out war, according to what Israeli Channel 11 reported.
Total war!
The Israeli army is preparing for the possibility of a strong response from Hezbollah, as the political level does not rule out that the Israeli depth will be bombed with long-range missiles. The Walla website quoted a senior Israeli official as saying: “Israel is preparing for a sharp response from Hezbollah to the assassination of Al-Arouri.” “.
In anticipation of the possibility of armed forces infiltrating the settlements in the Western Negev and the Upper Galilee, launching attacks and launching rockets from the Lebanon and Gaza fronts, instructions were issued to Israeli police officers throughout the country to be on alert for any emergency.
Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper's police correspondent, Liran Temari, reported that the Israeli police high command sent a message to police officers in various parts of the country after the assassination of Saleh Al-Arouri, instructing them to prepare to launch missiles and infiltrate the settlements.
Instructions were also issued to the police to prepare guard teams in more than 600 Israeli towns that were formed after the Battle of the “Al-Aqsa Flood,” and to issue instructions for them to be ready to deploy and participate in protecting the home front from any armed attacks and intense missile barrages.
no comment
Senior Israeli government officials told the Yedioth Ahronoth website after Al-Arouri's assassination, “Finally, a qualitative assassination. Every Hamas leader is destined for assassination and death.”
This comes as Israel has not yet claimed official responsibility for the assassination, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has instructed ministers not to conduct interviews and not to comment on the assassination.
The Prime Minister's Office refused to comment on the assassination that took place in Beirut, which is the first of a senior Hamas official outside Gaza since the “Al-Aqsa Flood” battle on October 7, 2023.
Government Secretary Yossi Fuchs ordered the ministers not to speak or give interviews about the incident, and the Likud spokeswoman ordered the party’s Knesset members not to conduct interviews without prior approval during the next 24 hours or until further notice.
Promoting achievements
However, in an implicit indication of the Israeli government’s admission of being behind the Al-Arouri assassination, in an effort to promote some of the achievements of Israeli society, in light of the failure to achieve the goals of the war on Gaza, members of the government and coalition parties raced to brag about Al-Arouri’s assassination, and Hamas leaders threatened the same fate.
A member of the Knesset from the ruling Likud Party, Danny Danon, wrote a tweet on the “X” platform in which he claimed “responsibility” on behalf of Israel for the assassination of Al-Arawi.
Danon, a member of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, added in his tweet, “I congratulate the Israeli army, Shin Bet, Mossad and security forces on the assassination of senior Hamas official Salah Al-Arouri in Beirut. Everyone who participated in the October 7 massacre should know that we will reach them and hold them accountable.”
Meanwhile, a member of the Knesset from the Religious Zionism Alliance, Michal Waldiger, seemed more clear about Israel’s responsibility for the assassination of Al-Arouri, and said in her tweet: “The Israeli army and security forces received an order, and they did not rest for a single moment.” “All the damned will be doomed to death. Israel does not forget.”
Previously, the Israeli Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, responded and wrote in a tweet: “Yes, all your enemies, O Israel, will perish,” while the Minister of the Diaspora, Amichai Shkli, wrote in a tweet: “I will pursue my enemies and eliminate them, and I will not return until they are all eliminated.”
Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, who is close to Prime Minister Netanyahu, tweeted on the “X” platform, saying: “Acts of injustice will not go unpunished. The list is long, but we will count all Hamas leaders.”
Assassination of Hamas leaders
In an additional indication that confirms Israel's responsibility for the assassination of Al-Arouri, the Arab world affairs correspondent for the newspaper “Israel Hayom”, Shahar Kleiman, wrote an analysis entitled “After the assassination of Al-Arouri… who is in the circle of targeting Israel?”
According to the Israeli journalist's estimates regarding the political and military leadership of Hamas who are on the assassination list, Al-Arouri is one of a number of senior officials in the Political Bureau abroad and in Gaza, including Ismail Haniyeh and his deputy Musa Abu Marzouk, Khaled Mashal, Fathi Hamed and a number of other senior officials in agitation.
The same journalist estimated that the main targets for assassination in the Gaza Strip include the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Al-Sinwar, and the leaders of the military wing: Muhammad Deif, Marwan Issa, Raad Saad, Raif Salama, and Izz al-Din al-Haddad, commander of the Gaza City Brigade in Hamas.
In Kleiman's view, all Hamas officials should fear Israel's long-term measures, saying, “It is hoped that with the elimination of the top and leaders of the terrorist organization, many of its capabilities will be destroyed.”
He pointed out that the assassination of Al-Arouri represents an important message to those in charge of mediation and managing communications between Israel and Hamas in order to reach an exchange deal stating that “there is no immunity for any Hamas leader, and they are all in the circle of being targeted.”