On Tuesday, a senior Hezbollah official was killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting his car in Syria. Lebanese sources revealed that he was previously a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, as confirmed by a party source.
Hezbollah mourned “martyr fighter Yasser Nimer Karnabish” without giving him a leadership title. Karnabish, born in 1970, hailed from the town of Zawtar Al-Sharqiya in southern Lebanon. A Hezbollah source confirmed that he had served as Nasrallah’s bodyguard over fifteen years ago.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that two individuals, suspected to be from Hezbollah, were killed, and a third person, a Syrian national working as a driver for the party, was seriously injured.
The attack occurred when an Israeli drone targeted a Hezbollah vehicle near a Fourth Division military checkpoint on the Damascus-Beirut highway in Jdeidet Yabous, rural Damascus.
Israeli media also reported that the target was a member of Hezbollah’s air defense unit.
Hezbollah believes it is engaged in psychological warfare against Israel, particularly by disseminating intelligence information, images, and footage of military and strategic sites within Israel.
This is intended to create a deterrent atmosphere to prevent Israel from expanding the party’s presence in Lebanon, especially after Israel moved to the third phase of the Gaza war.
Last month, Hezbollah showcased footage from Nahariya to Haifa, including military and security headquarters. On Tuesday, it released new footage showing Israeli military and security sites in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.
The video, titled “The Hoopoe: Episode 2 – The Occupied Syrian Golan,” included aerial reconnaissance footage of intelligence bases, command centers, and camps in the Golan, allegedly captured by drones operated by Hezbollah.
Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported a military source suggesting that the footage aired by Hezbollah was likely taken about two months ago.
Channel 12 in Israel noted that Hezbollah is conducting psychological warfare alongside the northern conflict, with high-quality aerial footage of various northern sites, indicating that the reconnaissance drone filmed sensitive areas in Israel.
Riad Kahwaji, head of the Middle East and Gulf Military Analysis Center – INEGMA, believes that releasing these images aims to demonstrate Hezbollah’s capabilities and boost its members’ and supporters’ morale, falling within the scope of psychological warfare against Israel by showcasing significant military capabilities.
Kahwaji told Asharq Al-Awsat that comparing “Hoopoe 1” and “Hoopoe 2” reveals a substantial difference between the images and footage.
The latest video appears to have been captured from satellites or high altitudes, unlike the first video’s clearly drone-captured scenes. He speculated that the Iranian side might have provided the latest images and footage.
Meanwhile, CNN reported that the American embassy in Israel confirmed that the American citizen injured after Hezbollah launched rockets towards northern Israel was not working for the U.S. government.
The embassy stated they received information about an ordinary American citizen being injured and were gathering more information, affirming that the individual does not work for the U.S. government. Due to privacy concerns, they did not provide further details.
Simultaneously, official Lebanon is focused on ensuring that the anticipated Gaza ceasefire will also apply to southern Lebanon.
Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi, after meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, assured the Lebanese people, saying, “God willing, there will be good news regarding the situation in the south, and a ceasefire in Gaza will soon extend to southern Lebanon.”
However, Riad Kahwaji is skeptical that the Gaza ceasefire will automatically extend to southern Lebanon, citing Israeli demands to change the reality on the northern front, specifically by pushing Hezbollah fighters and weapons back 16 kilometers. He also suggested that Israel might be planning a strike against Hezbollah’s capabilities.
Kahwaji added, “From the Israeli perspective, there is no direct connection between the Gaza and southern Lebanon fronts. The likely scenario is that Israeli attention will shift to the north once the Gaza front enters the third phase, meaning low-intensity operations.”
