Kareem Cheyab is with us now. Hi. It's good to see you. Thanks for joining us on the program this morning. How significant is this death?

Good morning. Thanks for having me. Yes. The death of Sal Hilaruri is a major escalation following months of very limited and contained attacks between Hezbollah and israeli forces along the very tense Lebanon Israel border. There are now fears that this could lead to a wider escalation, though everything is up in the air, but this definitely marks significant escalation in months.

What does it mean for the West bank? He originated in the west bank, of course. Very popular man there.

Absolutely. Salah, for Hamas was an official with many fingers in different pies, right? Yes. He heads their operations, the west bank, and there are know quick protests for him, the West bank, but he was also a co founder of Hamas's military wing. He is their deputy political head. So he's important for Hamas everywhere. And we certainly will see repercussions to West bank as well. There's no doubt about it.

What form do you think that might.

Mean? The situation is very tense in the west bank, so there could be escalations for sure. But I think at the moment all eyes are on Lebanon, particularly. He was killed in the Bedwood southern suburbs, widely seen as a stronghold for Hezbollah. And there are fears that when Hezbollah leader Nasrallah speaks tonight that he could announce that Hezbollah could intensify their attacks on Israel in response to this. This is also the anniversary of the killing of Qasim Sulaimani. So a lot is up in the air for the Sal Harud assassination for the entire region.

Sure wanted to talk to you about Hisbala as well, of course, an ally of Hamas. They have said that it was an assault on lebanese sovereignty. Israel says it was a surgical strike against the Hamas leadership.

Yeah, absolutely. Again, most of the clashes have taken place along the border. This is the first attack in the southern suburbs this far north into Lebanon since the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel. And Hazballah has said on many occasions that assassinating palestinian figures in Lebanon is a red line, though Israel has also threatened for years to assassinate Aruri. So the response is going to be very key. The lebanese government, which has been know the prime minister Nashimiyati, who has been sort of opposite ends with Hezbollah, has also condemned the strike and sees it as a possible move that could further lure Lebanon into an all out war. So there's concerns across the board, and it's definitely seen as the most intense israeli strike on Lebanon in well over a decade.

Yeah. I mean, the Israelis have not yet accepted the IDF. Israeli government has not yet accepted responsibility for this. Let's call it an assassination. But on the other hand, Biniman Netanyahu had threatened to kill him for years, even, as you were saying, even before the 7 October attacks. Any doubt at all who it might be?

I'm not in the business of speculation. The lebanese government and Hezbollah and Hamas accused Israel of doing so. And when the Associated Press contacted israeli officials, they had declined to comment in the aftermath of the event.

Okay, do you want to talk to us about how you think that Hezbollah and Hamas may retaliate? We've talked about the situation in the West bank. What about where you are in Lebanon?

Absolutely. Hezbollah, since the onset of the October 7 war, have sort of presented themselves as playing a supportive role that they're not interested in taking center stage. And this is sort of clear with how they've maintained their attacks. They did not escalate. There were a lot of concerns, for example, early on that once Israel would start a ground incursion into Gaza that Hezbollah would escalate significantly. But things pretty much stayed the know, the frequency of the Hezbollah rockets, the anti tank missiles and what have you have definitely increased. But it was not this all out war that everyone expected. Now the fact that such a quote unquote red line has been crossed and everything is up in the air. But if we look at the patterns from the past few months, Hezbollah have sort of maintained interest in playing this more supportive role. But now everything is up in the air. Of course, if there is an all out war, there's consequences for all of Lebanon. There are consequences for Hezbollah politically, which have been under a lot of pressure as of late. And of course, there's regional consequences. This isn't the Hezbollah of old from 2006.

This is a far more advanced military. And over the years, Hezbollah played such an important role regionally in backing their allies. They've backed syrian President Bashar al Assad and have played a pivotal role in keeping him in power. They have played a pivotal role in backing Iran aligned iraqi militias. As you know, this would not just be a war in Lebanon. This would arguably be a conduit to a regional nation. And there is basically a global consensus, unlike Gaza to a certain extent, that they do not want this to happen.

Okay. Good to talk to you. Thanks very much indeed for explaining the situation to.