Free Republic

Beirut - Israel recently conveyed a warning to Syria through a third party that it would hold Damascus accountable if Lebanese Hezbollah launched attacks on the Jewish state, Israeli and European sources said on Friday. The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the warning stemmed largely from Israeli concerns that Hezbollah would launch salvos of cross-border rockets to coincide with any major Israeli offensive in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The sources said the message was conveyed in February through at least one European intermediary following the assassination of a top Hezbollah commander ( pictured) and before this month's five-day...

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's Hezbollah has appointed a successor to its senior guerrilla commander Imad Moughniyah who was assassinated in Syria this week, a Lebanese security source said on Friday. ADVERTISEMENT The source said the appointment was made hours after the announcement of Moughniyah's death in a car bomb in Damascus on Tuesday. He did not identify the successor who would now command Hezbollah's formidable and well-armed guerrilla army.A joint investigation into the bombing by Syrians, Iranians and Hezbollah was well under way and suspects had been arrested in the Syrian capital, the source said.Hezbollah and its main backer Iran...

WASHINGTON – While Israel has formally refuted allegations it was involved in the assassination of Hizbullah 'operations officer' Imad Mugniyah in Damascus on Tuesday, former CIA official Bruce Riedel says all signs seem to indicate the Mossad was behind the killing. Riedel, who spent over 30 years with the CIA before serving as a senior advisor on South Asian and Middle East affairs under three US presidents, said Israel has already carried out similar operations in Syria Currently a senior fellow with the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institute, he says Mugniyah's assassination proves Israel has...

DAMASCUS BLAST ON TUESDAY KILLED SENIOR HEZBOLLAH MILITARY COMMANDER - LEBANESE POLITICAL SOURCE

Reservist Military Intelligence officers tell Ynet of Imad Mugniyah's prowess as terrorist mastermind. Former Mossad chief Danny Yatom: One of most dangerous terrorists ever. "Hizbullah lost its most important operative in the organization in recent years," a reservist Military Intelligence officer told Ynet on Wednesday in reference to the killing of senior Hizbullah military commander Imad Mugniyah in an explosion in Damascus. "He was an expert in carrying out terrorist attacks and at the same time, he was an expert in maintaining a low profile and knowing, for 20 years, how to evade the many that tried to get him,"...

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's Hezbollah has suffered a serious blow with the killing of Imad Moughniyah but the guerrilla group is unlikely to retaliate immediately, analysts and political sources said on Wednesday. Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, accused Israel of the killing, but the Jewish state swiftly denied any role. ... "None of the (suspected) parties -- Israel and the United States -- will admit to it. The U.S. administration will celebrate. The Israelis will never claim responsibility. They make things happen," Ranstorp said.