His surprise death will shake the region’s destiny again, leaving Hamas leaderless, Gaza without any semblance of governance and Israel able to claim that a key war aim has been met at last and at a huge cost in lives. All this raises the previously slim possibility of a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza. And if that takes place there is a narrow pathway to a de-escalation across the region even as a war rages in Lebanon and the prospect of Israeli retaliation against Iranian missile strikes looms large.

Read all our coverage of the war in the Middle East

Mr Sinwar, aged 61, spent years planning the attack on October 7th 2023 in which thousands of Hamas fighters caught Israel by surprise, bursting through the Gaza border and killing nearly 1,200 and taking back 250 hostages. Since then he had been in hiding, lurking underground in a labyrinth of tunnels, communicating with his minions through hand-written notes and runners, and eschewing mobile-phones which could be tracked. Holed up in the filth and darkness for much of the past year he appeared to be just as in control of events as world leaders in their plush offices; inspecting the Israeli hostages; negotiating through proxies with the CIA; and directing military attacks.

He was top of the hit-list for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) as its armoured divisions tore up the coastal strip and its aircraft pounded it. In the end it wasn’t massive force or high-tech intelligence that caught him, but a chance encounter. According to initial reports he was with two other men at night near Rafah. Spotted by an IDF foot patrol which was accompanied by tanks he was killed by the ensuing fire. The patrol had not been searching for him and his body was only identified the day after when a drone surveyed the half-ruined building where he had been sheltering.

Mr Sinwar believed that his attack on Israel would mark the beginning of the end of the Jewish state. A Hamas enforcer since the movement was founded in the 1980s, he spent 23 years in an Israeli prison, after being sentenced for murdering four Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel. Released in a prisoner exchange in 2011, he began planning what would become the October 7th attack when he returned to Gaza, according to Israeli intelligence. Documents captured by Israel suggest that he engaged with Hizbullah, another Iran-backed militia, based in Lebanon, in the hope of co-ordinating a multiple-front attack on Israel. But while Hamas achieved its immediate objective on October 7th, overwhelming IDF bases on Gaza’s borders and massacring Israelis, Hizbullah made do with firing short-range rockets. The IDF put reinforcements on the Lebanon border and evacuated civilians near it. Then it invaded Gaza.

There are two views of Mr Sinwar’s legacy within Israeli intelligence. Some believe he made a fatal mistake, thinking that the IDF would be too risk-averse to send its soldiers into Gaza city. “Sinwar thought he knew Israeli society and that it had gone soft,” says one analyst. Others think he was motivated by fanaticism. “Sinwar was fully prepared to sacrifice Gaza and its people,” says a senior IDF officer who has spent years studying the Sinwar file. Either way the consequences of his attack have been no triumph even by his brutal standards. Israel has reduced Hamas’s military wing to a husk, although in the process laid waste to Gaza, killed over 40,000 people and induced global outrage. The IDF has decapitated Hizbullah’s leadership too. And while Iran has launched missile attacks at Israel, most recently on October 1st, Israel has re-established military deterrence by striking at Iranian proxies across the region and, possibly, by retaliating directly against Iran with air strikes in the coming days.

Three giant questions now loom. One is what happens to Hamas. It has a leadership vacuum that could see its remaining grip on Gaza slip away. Israel has now eliminated the troika of hardliners that had control of the organisation, Mr Sinwar, Muhammad Deif and Marwan Issa, along with at least half of the movement’s senior leadership in Gaza. In addition to being the boss in Gaza since 2017, Mr Sinwar was the overall leader of the movement for the past three months, replacing Ismail Haniyeh, head of its political bureau who was assassinated by Israel in Tehran on July 31st.

Hamas still has thousands of fighters in Gaza, who are now in what the IDF calls “guerilla mode,” having lost most of their commanders. Mr Sinwar’s brother and right-hand man is mentioned as potential interim commander in Gaza, but is more of a local strongman, without leadership heft beyond Gaza. Some Israeli analysts anticipate a vacuum in which some Gazans oppose Hamas and local leaders come to the fore. Hamas has an “outside” leadership mainly based in Qatar, Turkey and Lebanon. The surviving senior figure of this wing, former politburo chief Khaled Meshal, a rival of Mr Sinwar, may take up the reins. He is a more pragmatic figure and has been opposed to the relationship with Iran, which under Messrs Haniyeh and Sinwar intensified.

That leads to the second question: whether the conditions may now be right for a ceasefire in Gaza. What remains of Hamas may try to do a deal using the remaining 101 Israeli hostages (around half of whom are presumed dead) in order to trigger a truce which allows it to try to keep control of the strip, or its leaders to secure safe passage from it. In a statement announcing Sinwar’s death, Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, offered this prospect to those holding hostages. “Those who lay down their arms, we will allow them to leave and live.” The Israeli government has already reached out to the mediators who had been handling ceasefire talks.

Mr Sinwar had demanded a full and permanent withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza as a condition for such a deal. Mr Netanyahu, despite the entreaties of his security chiefs, adamantly opposed such a step. Now he may have an incentive to accept a deal, which the Biden administration has also been urging upon him, if Hamas is indeed prepared to lower its demands. Mr Netanyahu, whose popularity collapsed after the October 7th attacks, may fancy he can stage yet another revival in his long career of improbable comebacks. Outside of a wing of religious extremists inside the cabinet, Israel has little interest in taking responsibility for Gaza let alone rebuilding it. If an alternative governing authority of some kind takes over notional responsibility following a ceasefire, it is at least possible that the strip’s future is something other than permanent destitution and anarchy or eventual annexation.

The final question is whether the prospect of a ceasefire and release of hostages in Gaza could lead to a broader de-escalation across the region. Iran’s leaders may now want this, at least temporarily. While they and their proxies including Hizbullah and the Houthis in Yemen claim to be fighting with Israel in sympathy towards the Palestinians, they are also participants in a parallel struggle between Israel and the Iranian regime. Still, after the devastation wrought on Hamas and Hizbullah their appetite to fight this struggle may be waning. Both Mr Sinwar and Hassan Nasrallah, the chief of Hizbullah, have been killed by Israel. There may be more pain to come. On October 17th America bombed Houthi sites in Yemen, while Iran is awaiting Israel’s retaliation against its missile attack: Israel is most likely to target military sites after America objected to it hitting Iran’s nuclear or oil facilities.

Does Israel believe it can safely stop fighting? Mr Sinwar succeeded in landing the most grievous blow on the Jewish state in its history. But Israel has now gone a long way to re-establishing military deterrence—albeit at huge reputational cost outside the Middle East and at enormous human cost in Gaza. The long-term war between Israel and Iran isn’t over, nor is the tragedy of the stateless Palestinians. Still it is possible to see a route out: a calibrated Israeli retaliation on Iran; a ceasefire negotiation in Gaza and a de-escalation in Lebanon. Mr Sinwar would hate to hear it but his death creates an opportunity for Israel to take an off-ramp that could, perhaps, lead to an end to this war.

© 2024, The Economist Newspaper Ltd. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com

हमास का नया मुखिया याह्या सिनवार भी मारा गया है. इजरायल ने उसकी मौत की पुष्टि कर दी है. याह्या सिनवार को पिछले साल 7 अक्टूबर के हमले का मास्टरमाइंट माना जाता है. 7 अक्टूबर को हमास ने इजरायल पर बड़ा हमला किया था. इस हमले में 1200 इजरायलियों की मौत हो गई थी. इसके बाद ही इजरायल ने हमास के खिलाफ जंग का ऐलान किया था. 

इजरायली विदेश मंत्री इसरायल काट्ज ने कहा कि 7 अक्टूबर के नरसंहार और अत्याचार के लिए जिम्मेदार याह्या सिनवार को आईडीएफ ने मार गिराया. वहीं, इजरायली पीएम बेंजामिन नेतन्याहू ने कहा कि हमने 7 अक्टूबर का हिसाब बराबर कर लिया है लेकिन जंग अभी बाकी है.

याह्या सिनवार इस साल अगस्त में इस्माइल हानिया की मौत के बाद हमास का मुखिया बना था. इस साल 31 जुलाई को इस्माइल हानिया को इजरायल ने मार गिराया था. 

याह्या सिनवार को कई नामों से जाना जाता है. उसे कोई ‘हमास का ओसामा बिन लादेन’ कहता था, तो कोई ‘खान यूनिस का जल्लाद’. इजरायल उसे ‘आतंक का हिटलर’ कहता है. वो इतना क्रूर था कि हमास से गद्दारी और इजरायल से वफादारी के शक में फिलिस्तीनियों तक को तड़पा कर मारता रहा है. वो बच्चों के साथ खुलेआम बंदूकों की नुमाइश करता है. उनकी मासूमियत को आतंक के जहर से मार डालता है. उसके बाद बच्चों पर ज्यादती का इल्जाम इजरायल पर लगाता है. गाजा में फैला टनल नेटवर्क उसकी ताकत है, जिसमें उसके कई राज दफन हैं.

‘बुचर ऑफ खान यूनिस’, जिसे लादेन भी कहा जाता है

याह्या सिनवार को ‘बुचर ऑफ खान यूनिस’ भी कहा जाता है. 7 अक्टूबर के हमले के बाद इजरायली मीडिया ने उसकी तुलना कुख्यात आतंकवादी ओसामा बिन लादेन से की थी. इजरायल डिफेंस फोर्सेस के प्रवक्ता लेफ्टिनेंट कर्नल रिचर्ड हेचट ने उसकी तुलना ‘बुराई का चेहरा’ से की थी. उसे ‘चलता फिरता मरा हुआ आदमी’ तक बताया था. सिनेवार का जन्म साल 1962 में साउथ गाजा के खान यूनिस में एक फिलिस्तीनी शरणार्थी शिविर में हुआ था. यही वजह है कि उसे ‘खान यूनिस का कसाई’ भी कहा जाता है. वो खुलेआम कत्लेआम करने से नहीं चूकता.

साल 2015 में अमेरिका ने घोषित किया ‘ग्लोबल टेरेरिस्ट’

साल 1988 में इजरायली एजेंसियों ने याह्या सिनवार को गिरफ्तार किया था. उस वक्त याह्या की उम्र 19 साल थी. उसके खिलास केस चला और उसे चार आजीवन कारावास की सजा सुनाई गई. लेकिन साल 2011 में इजरायल और हमास के बीच हुए एक डील के तहत उसे रिहा कर दिया गया. साल 2015 में अमेरिकी विदेशी विभाग ने उसको ‘ग्लोबल टेरेरिस्ट’ घोषित किया था. कुछ समय पहले ही फ्रांस ने उसकी संपत्ति फ्रीज कर दी और उसे अपनी राष्ट्रीय प्रतिबंध सूची में शामिल कर दिया. इतने प्रतिबंध और विरोध के बावजूद उसका रसूख कम नहीं हुआ.

22 सालों तक जेल में रहा था सिनवार

याह्या सिनवार 1988 से 2011 के बीच लगभग 22 सालों तक इजरायल की जेलों में रहा. कहा जाता है. 2011 में जब कैदियों की अदला-बदली का समझौता हुआ, तो इजरायल के एक सैनिक गिलाड शलिट के बदले में इजरायल ने 1027 फिलीस्तीनी इजराइली अरब कैदियों को रिहा किया. इनमें याह्या सिनवार भी शामिल थे.

7 अक्टूबर को इजरायल में हुए नरसंहार की रची साजिश

याह्या सिनेवार 80 के दशक के अंत में हमास का सदस्य बना था. लेकिन बहुत तेजी से उसने अपनी एक अलग पहचान बना ली. कुछ सालों के बाद ही वो हमास के आंतरिक खुफिया तंत्र के संस्थापकों में से एक बन गया. इसे मजद के नाम से जाना जाता है. दो इजरायली सैनिक और चार फिलिस्तीनियों की हत्या के जुर्म में वो दो दशक से ज्यादा समय इजरायली जेल में बिता चुका है. जेल से बाहर निकलने के बाद वो ज्यादा खूंखार हो गया. उसने इजरायल को खत्म करने की कसम खाई और 7 अक्टूबर को हुए नरसंहार की पूरी साजिश रच डाली.

गाजा की सुरंगों में भागता देखा गया था याह्या सिनवार

इस नरसंहार का बदला लेने के लिए इजरायली सेना गाजा में घुस गई. क्या जमीन, क्या हवा और क्या समंदर, हर तरफ से हमास के खिलाफ जंग छेड़ दी. इजरायली सेना के हवाई हमलों से पूरा गाजा दहल उठा. लेकिन हमास के टनल नेटवर्क ने उसे बचाए रखा. फरवरी में इजरायली डिफेंस फोर्सेस ने एक वीडियो जारी करके दावा किया था कि याह्या सिनेवार अपने परिवार के साथ सुरंग के जरिए भागा था. 10 अक्टूबर को खान यूनिस में स्थित टनल नेटवर्क से वो गुजरते हुए दिखाई दिया था. उसके साथ उसका भाई, पत्नी और बच्चे भी नजर आए थे. 
 
हमास चीफ याह्या सिनवार की क्रूरता के कुख्यात किस्से

याह्या सिनवार की क्रूरता के कई किस्से कुख्यात हैं. एक बार इजराइल के लिए जासूसी करने के शक में उसने एक शख्स को जिंदा दफन करवा दिया था. भयावह बात ये है कि इसके लिए उसने कुदाल का इस्तेमाल नहीं किया था, बल्कि चम्मच से क्रब खोदने का आदेश आरोपी के भाई को ही दिया था. साल 2015 में उसने हमास एक कमांडर को बुरी मौत दी थी. उस पर समलैंगिकता और रुपयों की हेरा-फेरी का आरोप था. उसके बारे में कहा जाता है कि वो हर बार मौत को भी मात दे देता है. उसके मरने की कई बार अफवाह उड़ी, लेकिन वो जिंदा है.

The sun sets over the Mediterranean, casting a golden hue over the Lebanese coastline: but this idyllic scene belies the turbulent reality unfolding just a few miles away. In the Lebanese capital of Beirut, the air is thick with sea salt and tension, as warplanes reverberate relentlessly over ancient streets.

This is not just another chapter in country’s long history of conflict. It is a harrowing narrative of survival and resilience in the face of a renewed onslaught. It began as a whisper—a distant hum of engines high above. But the stillness of the morning quickly gave way to chaos as the sky darkened with the shadows of Israeli warplanes.

In Saida or Sidon, the third-largest city of Lebanon, 40 km south of Beirut, the familiar buzz was a foreboding signal of what was to come. As the bombs began to fall, the city transformed. Streets, once filled with the morning rush of commuters and students, fell eerily silent, punctuated only by the deadly crack of airstrikes. 

I lay in bed on October 1, listening to the familiar rumble of warplanes overhead. But this time, the noise was louder—too loud. The airstrikes were closer, targeting the Ain el-Hilweh refugee camp. The blasts rattled the windows, and my heart sank.

Within moments, Saida was engulfed in fear. Venturing out later, I witnessed the chaos: homes shattered, dust swirling, people huddling in despair. In the heart of Saida lies Ain el-Hilweh, a densely populated Palestinian refugee camp, which was an epicentre of despair that morning.

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I was there not as a journalist but as a resident, my family’s roots deeply entrenched in the fabric of this community. The first bomb landed close to the marketplace. In the place where laughter and chatter were once the soundtrack, now screams filled the air. Buildings, flimsy against the might of the missiles, crumbled. Dust and smoke rose, shrouding the camp in suffocating debris.

Over 71 people perished in Ain el-Delb on September 29—a massacre that left families devastated and streets empty.

When mountains cried

Away from the immediate border, even mountainous towns such as Arab Salim and Kfarhouna suffered. I travelled there from Saida, following the trail of displacement, as residents fled their sanctuaries. The mountains, resolute in their stoic beauty, echoed with explosions. Homes were scarred by shrapnel. At one crowded makeshift shelter, I met Layla, a little girl who had been looking forward to school and to seeing her friends and teachers after the summer break. Now, her eyes wide in fear, she said softly, “I just want to go back to school.” Her wish was a heartbreaking reflection of the shattered innocence of countless children. They have lost their toys, their sense of safety, and, in many cases, their families. These children are growing up amid the constant boom of bombs and the acrid smell of destruction.

Nearby, an elderly man named Khalil recounted the loss of his home in Ghazieh, his narrative punctuated by pauses heavy with grief. The shelter, a microcosm of the broader crisis, was overflowing with similar stories.

Each person I spoke with, added a thread to the tapestry of this conflict—a strand of loss, hope, and enduring spirit. Organisations such as the Nashit Cultural and Social Association worked tirelessly to restore a semblance of childhood, with their volunteers running activities, games and creative sessions.

In the dusty corner of a makeshift shelter, an elderly man from Nabatieh said he had lost one son in a previous conflict, and now, in this latest round of violence, his second son was gone. Sitting with his wife—whom he tenderly called “the mother of the martyr”—he shared his story. “We fled the bombing, but what we’ve lost cannot be replaced,” he said. They left behind everything they knew—their home, their land, and now lived with the uncertainty of ever returning.

The shelters are packed with people like him: families who lost everything and have nowhere to go. When the bombs fell, they had fled, leaving behind not just homes but their histories and memories. For the elderly, the journey was particularly cruel. They could not move quickly, and the harsh conditions of the shelters took their toll.

Alaa, an accountant from Jbeil, recounted the horror of losing her cousins on the first day of the Israeli bombings. “I will never forget the sound of the explosion,” she said. Her uncle’s wife and daughter, and her cousin’s wife and children, all were gone in a single instant. Their house was flattened to rubble.

“They were shredded so badly that civil defence found only body parts,” she whispered, her voice heavy with anguish. Alaa spoke of the panic as her family fled, the roads choked with cars as the bombs fell all around them. “A shell fell on a car ahead of us,” she recalled. “It was burnt to a crisp. The whole family inside was killed.” They spent hours on the road, choking on the smell of burning flesh, away from their loved ones, fearing the worst.

Elio, a filmmaker from Dahiyeh, spoke of the empty streets and the fear that gripped his neighbourhood. “Most people have left their homes,” he said. “But my mom and dad are sick.” His cousin’s son was killed in a bombing near Baalbek, and the family was too afraid to attend the funeral. “People in Dahiyeh remember the destruction in 2006,” he said. “We know Israel isn’t just hitting Hezbollah; they are hitting everyone.”

For Elias, a winemaker in the Beqaa Valley, the war struck close to home, literally. “A missile struck next to my winery,” he told me. “The day of the bombing, I got a message saying anyone near Hezbollah sites should leave immediately. Thirty minutes later, a missile hit.” He moved his family to Byblos but returned to the Beqaa to protect his livelihood. “I want to work,” he said. “This is part of creating peace—refusing to surrender to war.”

The death of olive orchards

The economic consequences of this conflict are as devastating as the human toll. The southern villages of Lebanon, reliant on agriculture, are in ruins. Bombs have obliterated fields and olive orchards, carefully tended over decades, are reduced to ash.

One farmer from Yarin spoke of his heartbreak: “I waited all season to harvest my olives. Now everything is gone. I don’t know how we’ll survive the winter.” Farmers, labourers, and shop owners all face the same grim reality. Even if the fighting stops today, the economic damage will linger for years.

Lebanon’s political paralysis has only deepened the humanitarian crisis. The country has not had an effective government since 2009, with political infighting preventing any meaningful progress. The caretaker government lacks the power to address the economic collapse or the military escalation. Lebanese citizens live in uncertainty, abandoned by their leaders in their hour of greatest need. For those in the south, the situation is worse, caught as they are, between political dysfunction and relentless bombardment.

The three largest religious sects in Lebanon are awarded the highest government posts under a sectarian system that governs the country’s power structure. The Prime Minister must be a Sunni Muslim, the Speaker of Parliament must be a Shia Muslim, and the President must be a Maronite Christian. The powers of the President include approving legislation, choosing the Prime Minister with assistance from Parliament, and managing the military forces.

The Speaker of the Parliament oversees the sessions and organises the operations of the legislative body, while the Prime Minister leads the government and oversees the execution of policies. The lack of consensus among political groupings on a nominee is the cause of the current impasse in the Presidential selection process, which has brought Parliament to a standstill.

‘We rely on our neighbours’

And yet, there is a glimmer of hope. Amid the rubble and despair, I saw people helping each other, sharing what little they had. In one shelters Mohammad Issa, a young man from Ghazieh—took it upon himself to provide free haircuts to displaced people. “They need someone to help ease their burden,” he told me. It was a small act, but it made a difference. It was a reminder that even in the darkest times, there are some who refuse to give up on their humanity.

Lara, an editor in Beirut, spoke of the mutual aid initiatives that had sprung up across the country. “Soup kitchens are popping up,” she said. “People are distributing mattresses, food, and water. They are collecting money for diapers and milk.”

In a country where the state has often failed its people, the community has stepped in. “There’s a viral video of a Christian man with a big cross on his shirt offering free labour and parts to people whose cars broke down,” she said. “People in Lebanon are accustomed to doing this kind of work because we have never really had a strong state. We rely on our neighbours.”

This spirit of solidarity is what keeps Lebanon going. It is what allows people like Mohammad Issa to offer free haircuts and farmers like Elias to continue working their fields. It is what allows children like Layla to still dream of returning to school, even as the world around them crumbles. Despite everything—the destruction, the fear, the loss—the people of southern Lebanon have shown incredible resilience.

They have lived through wars before, and they know what it means to rebuild. “We’ve rebuilt our homes before, and we will do it again,” said Fatima, a young photographer from Houmine al Fauqa. “Our blood has become one with the soil of the south. We stand together, no matter what.”

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As I left Saida that day, the city was eerily quiet. Streets that once bustled with life were empty, shops closed, and the air heavy with tension. Every face I saw was etched with fear of what had happened and of what was still to come. And yet, in the shelters, I also saw determination. Families who had lost everything still held on to the hope that they would one day return home.

Lebanon finds itself caught in a cycle of conflict and instability. Each attack exacerbates the suffering of its people and adds another layer to the political and economic crises.

The international community sends aid, but it is never enough. What Lebanon needs is a real commitment to peace: a chance for its people to live without the constant fear of war. As the bombs fall and the world watches, the question remains: when will the violence end? When will the people of the south finally have the chance to live in peace?

The international community needs to work towards a lasting solution, one that addresses the root causes of the conflict and provides the people of Lebanon with stability. They wait for peace because they deserve nothing less.

Rawan Sayyed is a journalist who works as a content creator and news writer. She has also completed several documentary filmmaking projects.

At least 19 Palestinians were killed and dozens of others injured in Israeli shelling on a school housing displaced persons in the Nuseirat refugee camp of the central Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian sources.

Local sources and eyewitnesses reported on Sunday that Israeli artillery fired on the Al-Mufti school, which houses dozens of displaced families in the northern Nuseirat camp.

The ambulance crew and civil defence units quickly arrived at the targeted site, they said, adding flashlight beams and mobile phone lights pierced the darkness caused by a power outage as rescue workers worked to transport the injured.

Paramedics said the rescue team recovered 19 bodies and around 80 injured people, including children and women, and transported them to hospitals in central Gaza.

Also on Sunday, five children were killed by the Israeli army in the west of the Al-Shati camp of northern Gaza, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported.

The Israeli military has not yet commented on these attacks.

The ongoing Israeli offensive follows a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which left about 1,200 people dead and around 250 taken hostage.

Gaza-based health authorities said on Sunday that the Palestinian death toll from the Israeli airstrikes has reached 42,227.

The Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced a missile attack on Tel Aviv on the first anniversary of the Al-Aqsa storm operation.

Hamas announced that they targeted Tel Aviv with M90 missiles.

The internal front of the Israeli regime announced in this regard that the alarm sounded in Tel Aviv and the center of the occupied territories.

According to international media reports, 5 rockets were fired at Tel Aviv and the Israeli army intercepted some of them.

Al-Qassam this morning also hit the Soufa military base, the gathering of the Israeli occupying forces in the Rafah land crossing and around Hawallit town, and the enemy’s operation center in the Karam Abu Salem military base with short-range 114 mm rockets.

An hour ago, Al-Qassam battalions announced in a message on the occasion of the anniversary of the beginning of the Al-Aqsa storm battle on October 7th of last year: On such a day and minutes (last year), Al-Qassam fighters crossed the border barriers and Israeli military bases and Israeli settlements around the Gaza Strip. under their control and killed, injured, and captured the occupying soldiers and settlers.

इजरायल दक्षिणी लेबनान पर ताबड़तोड़ एयरस्ट्राइक कर रहा है. इजरायल लेबनान के उन रिहायशी इलाकों को भी निशाना बना रहा है, जहां हिज्बुल्लाह के आतंकियों ने हथियार छिपा कर रखे हैं. इजरायली आर्मी हिज्बुल्लाह के आतंकी ठिकानों पर चुन-चुनकर बम बरसा रही है, जिसमें उसके कमांडर मिट्टी में मिलते जा रहे हैं. 9 दिन से जारी जंग में इजरायली हमले में लेबनान के अब तक 700 लोगों की मौत हो चुकी है, जबकि 2600 लोग घायल बताए जा रहे हैं. शुक्रवार के हमले में भी 25 लोगों की जान चली गई. इसमें हिज्बुल्लाह के कार्यकारी परिषद के प्रमुख हाशेम सफीद्दीन की भी मौत हो गई. इससे पहले गुरुवार को हमलों में इजरायल ने हिज्बुल्लाह की ड्रोन यूनिट के कमांडर मोहम्मद सरूर को ढेर कर दिया था.

इस बीच शुक्रवार देर शाम (भारतीय समयानुसार) इजरायल ने लेबनान की राजधानी बेरूत में एक के बाद एक कई एयरस्ट्राइक कीं. ये हमला यूएनजीसी में नेतन्याहू के भाषण के बाद हुआ है. इसे इजरायल का लेबनान में सबसे भीषण हमला माना जा रहा है. इसके चलते आसमान में धुएं के गुबार छा गए. इजरायल ने बेरूत स्थित हिज्बुल्लाह के मुख्यालय पर भी हमला किया. ये मुख्यालय एक रियाशी इमारत के नीचे था. बताया जा रहा है कि इसमें हिज्बुल्लाह चीफ नसरल्लाह ने बंकर बनाया हुआ था. पहले बताया गया था कि बंकर में नरसल्लाह हो सकता है. हालांकि सूत्रों की मानें तो हिज्बुल्लाह की तरफ से इसका खंडन कर दिया गया है. बताया जा रहा है कि हमले से पहले इजरायल ने अमेरिका को भी इसकी जानकारी दी थी. इन हमलों में 6 इमारते पूरी तरह तबाह हो गईं. इस हमले में 2 की मौत हुई है जबकि 70 से अधिक लोग घायल बताए जा रहे हैं. 

इस हमले के बाद इजरायली पीएम नेतन्याहू ने अमेरिका यात्रा को छोटा कर दिया है और वे तुरंत इजरायल लौट रहे हैं. हमलों को लेकर इजरायली सेना ने बयान भी जारी किया. शुक्रवार को सेना ने कहा कि उसने दक्षिणी बेरूत के दहिएह उपनगर में हिज्बुल्लाह के केंद्रीय मुख्यालय को निशाना बनाकर हमला किया, जिससे लेबनान की राजधानी हिल गई और शहर के ऊपर धुएं के घने गुबार छा गए. फिलहाल यह जानकारी सामने नहीं आई है कि हमलों में कितने लोगों की मौत हुई है. लेकिन स्थानीय मीडिया का कहना है कि हमलों के बाद इलाके में दहशत का माहौल है और आम नागरिक सुरक्षित जगहों की तरफ पलायन कर रहे हैं.

पीएम नेतन्याहू ने UNGA में हिज्बुल्लाह को दी चेतावनी

इधर, जंग के बीच न्यूयॉर्क में संयुक्त राष्ट्र संघ के मंच पर इजरायल के पीएम बेंजामिन नेतन्याहू ने लेबनान और हिज्बुल्लाह के खिलाफ जमकर भड़ास निकाली. इतना ही नहीं UNGA के मंच से नेतन्याहू ने ईरान को भी खुलेआम धमकी दी, जिसके विरोध में कई देशों के प्रतिनिधियों ने सदन से वॉकआउट कर दिया. नेतन्याहू ने कहा कि ईरान में कोई ऐसी जगह नहीं है, जहां इजरायल नहीं पहुंच सकता. उन्होंने हिज्बुल्लाह को समर्थन देने वाले ईरान को लेकर कहा कि इजरायल तब तक नहीं थमेगा, जब तक उनके देश के बंधक नागरिक सुरक्षित घर नहीं लौट आते.

इजरायली प्रधानमंत्री नेतन्याहू ने संयुक्त राष्ट्र महासभा में कहा कि हम गाजा में हमास से तब तक लड़ेंगे जब तक हमें पूरी तरह जीत नहीं मिल जाती. इजरायल भी शांति का पक्षधर है. लेकिन अगर उनके देश पर हमला होगा तो वो किसी को नहीं छोड़ेंगे. उन्होंने चेतावनी भरे लहजे में कहा कि भले ही हिज्बुल्लाह की पकड़ सभी महाद्वीपों में है, लेकिन वो हिज्बुल्लाह और उसके चीफ हसन नसरल्लाह के खात्मे तक जंग जारी रखेंगे. इस साल जंग की वजह से उनका संयुक्त राष्ट्र महासभा में आने का कोई इरादा नहीं था. लेकिन वो लेबनान, ईरान और हिज्बुल्लाह को एक्सपोज करने के लिए यहां पहुंचे हैं.

जल्द जमीनी जंग को भी अंजाम दे सकता है इजरायल!

बता दें कि इजरायल ने सैकड़ों टैंक और आर्मर्ड व्हीकल्स को लेबनानी सीमा के पास तैनात कर दिया है. डिफेंस एक्सपर्ट्स का मानना है कि इजरायल बहुत जल्द किसी भी समय लेबनान पर हमला कर सकता है. यानी जमीनी जंग की शुरूआत हो सकती है. इजरायल के उत्तर में लेबनान का दक्षिणी हिस्सा मौजूद है. ये हमले कब और किस समय होंगे, इसका खुलासा फिलहाल नहीं हुआ है. लेकिन होंगे बहुत जल्द. 

हिज्बुल्लाह के लड़ाके सबसे ज्यादा हमले अपने इसी गढ़ से करते हैं. लेबनान में हाल ही में इजरायल ने कोवर्ट ऑपरेशन करके दुनिया को हैरान कर दिया था. ये कोवर्ट ऑपरेशन पेजर और वॉकी-टॉकी के धमाके थे. इजरायली रक्षामंत्री योआव गैलेंट ने भी इस बात का खुलासा कर दिया है कि उनका देश संभावित ग्राउंड अटैक के लिए तैयार है. इसका मतलब ये है कि इजरायल किसी भी समय जमीनी जंग की शुरूआत कर सकता है. गाजा पट्टी में जिस तरह घुसकर हमास को खत्म किया. ठीक उसी तरह लेबनान में घुसकर हिज्बुल्लाह का खात्मा कर सकता है.

इंटरनेशनल ऑर्गेनाइजेशन फॉर माइग्रेशन के अनुसार, इस लड़ाई ने लेबनान में 200,000 से ज़्यादा लोगों को अपने घरों से भागने पर मजबूर कर दिया है. इजरायल अधिकारियों ने सख्त चेतावनी जारी की है, जिसमें धमकी दी गई है कि अगर हिज्बुल्लाह ने अपने हमले जारी रखे तो वे लेबनान में भी गाजा जैसी तबाही मचा देंगे. इन बयानों ने इस आशंका को और बढ़ावा मिला है कि गाजा में देखी गई तबाही लेबनान में भी दोहराई जा सकती है, जिससे संघर्ष और भी बढ़ सकता है.

पेजर धमाकों के बाद अब इजरायल ने लेबनान में मचाई तबाही

पहले गाजा और अब बेरूत. इजरायल ने लेबनान पर बमों की बारिश कर दी है. बेरूत समेत तमाम लेबनानी शहरों में इजरायल तीन चार दिन से हमले कर रहा है. पेजर हमलों के बाद ये नई तबाही लेबनान पर भारी पड़ रही है. इजरायली हमलों के बाद लेबनान जाने वाली लगभग सारी उड़ानें रद्द कर दी गई हैं. इजरायली हमले और हिजबुल्लाह की जवाबी कार्रवाई के बीच कोई भी एयरलाइंस कंपनी बेरूत जाने का जोखिम नहीं उठा रही है.

कभी मिडिल ईस्ट का स्विट्जरलैंड और पेरिस था लेबनान

लेबनान हमेशा से ऐसा नहीं था और कभी इसे मिडिल ईस्ट का स्विट्जरलैंड और पेरिस कहा जाता था. लेकिन धीरे-धीरे यह इस्लामी कट्टरपंथ और आतंकवाद का गढ़ बन गया. यही वजह है कि लेबनान की राजधानी बेरूत इजरायली बम बारूद से तबाही झेल रही है. आज यहां खूंखार आतंकी संगठन हिजबुल्लाह का गढ़ है. लेकिन आज से 19 साल पहले भी इसकी तस्वीर ऐसी नहीं थी. बेरूत मॉडर्न, आजाद ख्याल और कट्टरवाद से बहुत दूर था.इसकी राजधानी बेरूत दुनिया के सबसे अमीर पर्यटकों का दिल खोलकर स्वागत करती थी. लेबनान में स्विमसूट, समुद्र तट, चहल-पहल भरी सड़कें और आज़ादी से घूमने वाले लोग थे.