Iran general killed with Hizbollah fighters in Israeli airstrike

Analysts say Hizbollah will seek to avoid a major escalation with Israel following Sunday's strike on six of its fighters and an Iranian general

Hizbollah fighters carry the coffin of Jihad Moughniyeh, the son of assassinated commander Imad Moughniyeh, during his funeral procession in southern Beirut, Lebanon on January 19, 2015. Jihad was one of six Hizbollah fighters killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights the day before. Bilal Hussein/AP PhotoShow less

BEIRUT // An Israeli strike on Syria killed an Iranian general, Tehran confirmed on Monday, as Hizbollah buried one of six of its fighters killed in the same raid.

The attack, near to the destroyed city of Quneitra on the Syrian-controlled side of the Golan Heights, enraged Hizbollah’s supporters, but analysts said the Lebanese group would seek to avoid a major escalation with Israel.

A source close to Hizbollah said Sunday’s strike killed six Iranian soldiers, including an officer of the elite Revolutionary Guards, although Tehran only confirmed the death of the general.

“General Mohammad Ali Allahdadi and a number of fighters and Islamic Resistance (Hizbollah) forces were attacked by the Zionist regime’s helicopters,” said a statement on the Revolutionary Guards’ website.

“This brave general and some members of Hizbollah were martyred,” it said.

The Hizbollah dead included Jihad Moughniyeh, the son of an assassinated Hizbollah commander, and Mohammed Issa, a commander responsible for the Shiite group’s operations in Syria and Iraq.

Once solely focused on fighting Israel, Hizbollah is now deeply involved in the war in neighbouring Syria, where it backs President Bashar Al Assad.

With its forces spread thin, and little appetite in fragile Lebanon for a new conflict with Israel, analysts said Hizbollah would seek to respond to the attack without provoking a full-on war.

On Monday afternoon, mourners gathered in the group’s south Beirut stronghold for Mr Moughniyeh’s funeral.

He is the most prominent Hizbollah figure killed in Syria since the group joined the conflict in 2012.

“God willing, the resistance will retaliate but the leadership of the resistance will be the one to decide the nature and timing,” said Hassana Sadaqa, as she prepared to pay her respects.

Mr Moughniyeh was to be buried in the same grave as his father, Imad Moughniyeh, who was killed in a 2008 car bombing that Hizbollah blamed on Israel.

The six Hizbollah fighters killed on Sunday afternoon were carrying out a field reconnaissance mission in Mazraat Amal village, the group’s Al Manar television said.

An Israeli security source confirmed that an Israeli helicopter had carried out a strike against “terrorists,” claiming that they were preparing to carry out an attack on the Jewish state.

Hizbollah’s Al Manar channel branded the strike “a costly adventure that threatens the security of the Middle East”.

The raid came days after Hizbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah threatened to retaliate against Israel’s repeated strikes on targets in Syria, and boasted the movement was stronger than ever.

He spoke of its sophisticated arsenal, including Fateh-110 missiles, which have a range of 200 kilometres or more and are capable of hitting much of Israel.

Analysts said the precision Israeli strike stood to embarrass Mr Nasrallah and Hizbollah.

“What happened is that the Israelis called Hizbollah’s bluff last night,” said Hilal Khashan, a professor of political science at the American University in Beirut.

But he said Hizbollah’s response would be limited “because if it retaliates, it will be another war. Hizbollah is in Syria and it is not ready for another war against Israel.”

Walid Charara, an analyst close to the group, said he had “no doubt” that it would respond, either from Lebanese or Syrian territory.

“Israel has decided to expand the line of confrontation to Syria,” Mr Charara said.

Prof Khashan said Hizbollah could resort to small-scale attacks, like a roadside bomb on the ceasefire line with Israel it claimed last year, but would avoid a more serious response.

“[Mr] Nasrallah will say the Israelis are trying to provoke us to help in their elections and we will not fall into their trap. That’s the best they can do.”

Lebanese media weighed the prospect of conflict, with the Al Safir newspaper saying Hizbollah needed something “more than a reply and less than a war.”

In Israel, analysts made the same calculation.

“Hizbollah doesn’t want a full-fledged war,” said Yoram Schweitzer, a former Israeli military counterterrorism chief.

“It has a number of possibilities to respond in different arenas. We assume that it currently does not want full contact,” he said.

Israel occupied parts of Lebanon for 22 years until 2000 and the two countries are still technically at war.

In 2006, Israel fought a bloody war against Hizbollah that killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and some 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

* Agence France-Presse