International
Israel Continues to Slay Arch-Terrorists, Possibly Quds Force and Hezbollah Chiefs
Follow Steve Postal: @HebraicMosaic
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As Israel is poised for a retaliatory strike against Iran, the Jewish State continues to eliminate key players in Hezbollah and Hezbollah-adjacent organizations. These arch-terrorists may have included the successors to both Qasem Soleimani (the head of the Quds force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) and Hassan Nasrallah (the head of Hezbollah):
Hader Ali Taweel
On Sunday, the IDF killed Hader Ali Taweel in Lebanon. Taweel was the Kfarkela Hezbollah company commander, and responsible for an anti-tank missile attack that killed a civilian and her son, a reservist, in January, along with terrorists Mohamed Hader and Hassan Nteer el Rasheeni, who the IDF killed earlier in the week. Taweel also fired multiple rockets and anti-tank missiles at Israel.
Muhammad Hussein Ali al-Mahmoud
On Saturday, the IDF killed Muhammad Hussein Ali al-Mahmoud in Lebanon. Al-Mahmoud was one of Hamas’ leaders in Lebanon and orchestrated terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria. He was critical in establishing a Hamas foothold in Lebanon.
Said Alaa Naif Ali
On Saturday, the IDF killed Said Alaa Naif Ali in Lebanon. Ali was responsible for “…carr[ying] out terrorist attacks against Israeli targets and work[ing] to recruit Hamas operatives inside Lebanon,” according to the IDF.
Hashem Safieddine
On Friday, the IDF has reportedly may have killed the new leader of Hezbollah, Hashem Safieddine in Beirut. He has not been seen or heard from since the IDF strike, and several Israeli and Arab media outlets have speculated that he might have been killed. He is Hassan Nasrallah’s cousin, and appointed to succeed Nasrallah one month ago. He had been serving on Hezbollah’s shura council, and had previously served on its executive council. The US had designated Safieddine as a terrorist in 2017.
Esmail Qaani
On Friday, the IDF may have killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force Brigadier-General Esmail Qaani in Beirut. Qaani has not been seen or heard from since the IDF strike, and several Israeli and Arab media outlets have speculated that he was killed. Qaani is the successor to Qasem Soleimani following a US drone strike killing him in January 2020. Qaani once said that “We tell everyone, be patient and see the dead bodies of Americans all over the Middle East.”
Mohammad Rashid Sakafi
On Thursday, the IDF killed Mohammad Rashid Sakafi in Beirut, Lebanon. Sakafi served as Hezbollah’s communications unit commander since 2000. He was a senior Hezbollah operative that served to integrate communications between Hezbollah’s units.
Mahmoud Yusef Anisi
On Thursday, the IDF announced that it killed Mahmoud Yusef Anisi. Anisi was one of the key figures in manufacturing Hezbollah’s precision-guided missiles. He had been a member of Hezbollah for over 15 years.
Aziz Salha
On Thursday, the IDF killed Aziz Salha in central Gaza. Salha was one of the terrorists involved in the lynching of two IDF soldiers in Ramallah in 2000, and the terrorist pictured in the “infamous bloody hands picture.” He had laughed about his role many years later, admitting on video that “’I killed one of them…I stabbed and strangled him…I raised my hands with the blood in the window so that the people could see.”
Rawhi Mushtaha, Sami Oudeh, and Sameh al-Shiraj
On Thursday, the IDF announced that it killed three Hamas arch-terrorists in northern Gaza three months prior. Rawhi Mushtaha was the head of Hamas’ government in Gaza and served as Yahya Sinwar’s right hand man, and together these two men had established Hamas’ general security mechanism. Sami Oudeh was the commander of Hamas’ general security mechanism and in turn was Mushtaha’s right hand man. Sameh al-Shiraj was on Hamas’ political bureau and held the security portfolio, and was also closely affiliated with Yahya Sinwar.
Israel continues to consolidate gains in the battlefield against its enemies in Lebanon, Gaza and beyond, hamstringing Iran and its proxies from being able to mount future terror attacks on the Jewish State.
Follow Steve Postal: @HebraicMosaic
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What would a new Trump administration mean for the Middle East? Expect the following:
Increased Pressure on Iran and its Proxies
Brian Hook, Trump’s former special envoy to Iran who is believed to be leading Trump’s transition team for the State Department, stated that the new Trump administration would seek to “…isolate Iran diplomatically and weaken them economically, so that they can’t fund all of the violence…” coming from Iran’s proxies, “…all of whom destabilize Israel and our Gulf partners.” This approach contrasts with the Biden-Harris administration, who engaged the Islamic Republic diplomatically and economically, and even removed the Houthis from the Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) entity list from February 2021 through January 2024. That being said, Hook also stated that the new Trump administration would have “no interest in regime change” in Iran, and that decisions about the future of Iran lies with its people.
The Trump administration may green light an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear sites. GOP spokeswoman Elizabeth Pipko refused to say whether President-elect Trump would approve of Israel attacking Iran’s nuclear sites, stating that Trump should speak for himself on this issue and will do so when he assumes office. However, Trump had stated in October that Israel should strike Iran’s nuclear sites. In contrast, the Biden-Harris administration vocally opposed Israel attacking Iran’s nuclear sites or oil fields, and Israel’s attack plans were leaked to Iran through someone in the Biden-Harris administration’s Defense department.
Striving to End Wars in Lebanon and Gaza
According to Pipko, President-elect Trump wants Israel to end the wars in Gaza and Lebanon quickly, decisively, and with victory. Pipko contrasted this approach with the Biden-Harris administration’s “back and forth” policy, and that the Biden-Harris administration was pressuring how Israel conducts war based on election considerations. The Biden-Harris administration was guilty of “armchair quarterbacking” Israel’s wars in an unproductive way, including by leaking Israel’s plans to strike Lebanon, opposing the Rafah invasion, and opposing the killing of several arch-terrorists.
Trump will also likely prioritize the release of the hostages; Trump recently threatened Hamas, stating that if they did not free its hostages before inauguration day, it will pay “a very big price.” In contrast, the Biden-Harris administration has been spinning its wheels in endless failed diplomacy with Qatar, having not produced a hostage deal with Hamas since November 2023.
Pursuing a Conditional Peace with Palestinians
President-elect Donald Trump will likely re-visit his 2020 peace plan between Israel and the Palestinians, according to Brian Hook. Regarding the 2020 plan, Hook stated that “much of that work is still relevant today.”
On the issue of a Palestinian state, expect that the Trump administration won’t pursue a Palestinian state unconditionally for its own sake, as the Biden-Harris administration has. Hook conceded that Trump’s 2020 plan, which was endorsed by Israel and U.S.’ allies in the Gulf, “had a path to a two-state solution.” But Hook also recognized that Israelis are not focused on a Palestinian state now, and are instead focused on protecting themselves from terrorism in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Additionally, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas outright rejected the 2020 plan, and the plan also required the PA to provide security guarantees for Israel, recognize Israel, and allow Israeli citizens to remain in Judea and Samaria, all of which the PA did not agree to. If the new Trump administration seeks to revive this plan, it will likely revive these conditions for a Palestinian state as well. The PA will then in turn likely reject it a second time, proving again that the PA is not a partner for peace.
Expanding the Abraham Accords
President-elect Trump is also poised to expand the Abraham Accords. Trump brokered normalization deals between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. Reportedly, the previous Trump administration was on the verge of expanding the Abraham Accords to Indonesia and Mauritania, but were prevented from doing so once the administration’s term expired. During the past Trump administration, Saudi Arabia had been trying to get Pakistan to join the Abraham Accords as well.
In contrast, the Biden-Harris administration failed to add any countries to the Abraham Accords. Most notably is the administration’s failure to clinch an Israel-Saudi Arabia deal after chilling US relations with Saudi Arabiaand insisting on a Palestinian state as an integral part of any deal. The Biden-Harris administration seems content with now pursuing a bilateral US-Saudi deal that ices out Israel, which would completely undermine the spirit of the Abraham Accords.
Jared Kushner has had multiple discussions with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the issue of US-Israel-Saudi relations since President-elect Trump left office. So given past efforts, the new Trump administration could clinch Abraham Accords deals with Indonesia, Mauritania, Oman, and/or the big prize, Saudi Arabia.
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