...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers..., the IDF said.
The strike in the town of Bazourieh, near the coastal city of Tyre killed Ali Abd Ali.
The IDF said Ali was a "main terrorist in the Southern Front of the Hezbollah terror organization," and involved in planning and carrying out numerous attacks.
His killing is a "significant blow to the functioning of the Southern Front and the Hezbollah terror organization in the region," the IDF added.
The Southern Front is a Hezbollah regional unit responsible for the terror group’s activities in the entire southern Lebanon, the equivalent of a regional command.
Meanwhile, incoming rocket sirens were activated in the Western Galilee community of Matat, with at least one rocket exploding in an open area.
In a further sign of tension, Sweden said Saturday it was shutting its embassy in Beirut after urging thousands of its citizens to leave Lebanon.
“The foreign ministry has instructed its staff to leave Beirut and travel to Cyprus, and the foreign ministry is planning a temporary relocation of its embassy,” Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom told Swedish Radio.
The decision had been taken “initially for the month of August but may be extended depending on the security situation.”
“The ministry is monitoring developments closely,” he said.
According to the foreign ministry, as many as 10,000 Swedish nationals may have traveled to Lebanon this summer, defying a travel warning in place for the country since October 2023.
“I urge Swedes in Lebanon to leave the country by whichever means possible, while they still can,” he said.