By Samah Abdul Fattah | 2024-10-03

As successive Israeli strikes eliminated most of Hizbullah's first-line commanders, it became clear that being the Iranian regime's favorite proxy did nothing to protect the party from cyber attacks and targeted air strikes.

After Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in a September 27 strike, Iran's leader Ali Khamenei vowed his death "will not be in vain," and First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said it would bring about Israel's "destruction."

Iran also vowed to avenge the killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Abbas Nilforoushan, who died alongside Nasrallah.

Yet the Iranian foreign ministry said September 30 that Tehran would not deploy any fighters to confront Israel.

And according to French newspaper Le Parisien, an Iranian mole had informed the Israeli military of Nasrallah's whereabouts the day Hizbullah's central headquarters were hit.

Even as the Iranian regime launched some 200 missiles towards Israel on October 1, most of which Israel intercepted, some view this as a face-saving act that came too little, too late for Hizbullah and its leaders who have always put Iran's interests before Lebanon's.

Loss of leadership

Since July 30, when one of Hizbullah's top military commanders, Fuad Shukr, was killed in an Israeli strike, Hizbullah has lost most of its top commanders.

Hundreds of pagers and two-way radios detonated across Lebanon September 17 and 18, killing at least 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000, in incidents that pointed to deep Israeli intelligence penetration of the group.

Hizbullah's Radwan Force commander Ibrahim Aqil was killed in a September 20 strike, along with 15 other commanders.

On September 25, a strike killed Ibrahim Mohammed Kobeissi, who commanded Hizbullah's missile unit, and on September 26 Hizbullah drone unit commander Mohammad Surour was killed.

The party's southern front commander, Ali Karake, was killed in the same September 27 strike that claimed Nasrallah's life, and Hizbullah Central Council deputy head Nabil Kaouk was killed in an air strike September 28.

IRGC deludes proxies

The IRGC has deluded its proxies into believing it provides them with protection and power, though the recent events in Lebanon that culminated with the killing of Nasrallah tell a different story, experts said.

These are a sure indication of "the disregard of the IRGC's leadership for the lives of its followers and members of its proxy groups throughout the region," Lebanese military expert Jamil Abu Hamdan told Al-Fassel.

The telecommunications attacks and successive targeted strikes confirm there was "electronic penetration" of Hizbullah as these operations require precise coordinates, he said.

Recent events confirm the Iranian regime considers its proxies as mere "chess pawns" who are sacrificed as needed, said Iranian affairs specialist Fathi al-Sayed of the Middle East Center for Regional and Strategic Studies.

Iran uses its proxies in Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria "primarily to implement its plans while keeping its own elements and officers away from danger," he said.