Targeted killings haven’t improved Israel’s strategic regional position — experts |
AP — Over the past two weeks, the Israel Defense Forces has killed both the leader of Hamas’s military wing and his replacement — the latest in a long string of targeted killings aimed at senior members of Iran-backed terror groups.
They were identified as Mohammed Odeh and Izz al-Din al-Haddad, architects of the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Officials say their killings were part of broader efforts to pursue those behind the onslaught that triggered the war in Gaza.
But while targeted killings may provide tangible achievements that leaders can brand as victories, they rarely address the underlying grievances that propel conflicts.
“The killing of military chiefs such as Odeh and Haddad points to Israel’s operational ability to reach Hamas’s military leadership,” said Nasser Khdour of the nonprofit ACLED, which tracks reports of political violence and conflict worldwide. But, he added, “the killing of senior commanders is unlikely, on its own, to push Hamas toward disarmament or make it accept the complete removal of its role in Gaza’s security and governance.”
Israel has carried out dozens of targeted killings throughout its history, but Palestinian and Lebanese terror groups have often endured and grown even more powerful after the loss of top leaders.
Take Hezbollah, for example. An Israeli airstrike killed its then-leader Abbas Musawi in southern Lebanon in 1992. Under Hassan Nasrallah, his charismatic replacement, Hezbollah grew into the region’s most powerful armed group and fought Israel to a bloody stalemate in 2006.
Nasrallah and nearly all of his deputies were killed in the 2024 war between Israel and Hezbollah. The Iran-backed group suffered other major losses that year, but resumed missile and drone attacks on Israel days after the start of the current war.
Hamas has lost one leader after another. Israel killed its founder and spiritual leader,........