Israel assassinates top Lebanese commander, sparks major escalation

On June 12, 2024, Israel assassinated a senior commander of the Islamic resistance. His name was Hajj Abou Taleb. At Taleb's funeral, a resistance leader vowed to escalate its operations against Israel in "severity, strength, quantity and quality."

Within hours, Israeli military bases in northern Israel came under intense fire from drones, missiles and artillery shells launched from Lebanon. Some of the attacks sparked large fires. One of the attacks severely damaged the plant of a major Israeli weapons manufacturer.

On June 14, Dimitri Lascaris spoke with Lebanon-based, geopolitical analyst Laith Marouf about these latest developments. Marouf and Lascaris also discussed a recent op-ed in the Jerusalem Post in which a former Brigadier-General in the Israeli military stated unambiguously that Israel was headed for a military defeat and "collapse".

The Brigadier-General's op-ed can be found here: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-804332