With Nasrallah Killed, Hezbollah’s Leadership is in Disarray

Given Nasrallah’s decades-long control of the organisation, Hezbollah will be hard put to replace him. The problem is compounded by the fact that in the past year that Hezbollah has been at war, it has lost a number of key leaders, all taken out by precise intelligence-driven strikes by Israel.

Ali Karaki, the southern front commander was killed in the Friday strike along with Nasrallah. He had survived an Israeli assassination attempt days earlier.

Ibrahim Muhammad Qubaisi, who headed the missile and rocket division of Hezbollah was killed on 24 September in a strike in southern Beirut.

Ibrahim Aqil was also killed in September in a strike targeting a residential area in Beirut. He was part of its elite Radawan Force and had reportedly been involved in the April 1983 bombing of the US Marine barracks in Beirut.

Fuad Shukr was killed on 30 July in a strike in southern Beirut that demolished the building where he was located. Shukr was among the founders of the organisation’s military wing and a close adviser of Nasrallah.

This came hours before the assassination of Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran where he had gone to attend the inaugural of the newly elected president Masoud Pezeshkian.

Mohammed Nasser, responsible for operations in southwestern Lebanon, was also killed on 3 July.

Taleb Abdallah, a senior field commander, was killed on 12 June during a strike at a command centre in southern Lebanon.

In his clerical robes and turban, he bears a striking resemblance to Nasrallah. Incidentally, Nasrallah became head of the organisation in 1992 when his predecessor Abbas al Musawi was assassinated by the Israelis the same year.