LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Israel and Lebanon are bracing for the possibility of even stronger attacks.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
This after Israel's killing of top leaders from the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah in three different countries. The U.S. and other nations have upgraded travel warnings to one of their highest levels. Airlines have canceled flights. And Hezbollah's leader warns they have not begun to retaliate.
FADEL: NPR's Jane Arraf joins us from Beirut now. Hi, Jane.
JANE ARRAF, BYLINE: Hi, Leila.
FADEL: So, Jane, it's kind of hard to get your head around what's happened in just the last few days. And now you were at the funeral of this top Hezbollah commander killed there. What was that like?
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Chanting in non-English language).
ARRAF: It was the funeral for Fuad Shukr, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the capital on Tuesday, along with five other people, including children. So Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, gave an hourlong video address at the ceremony Thursday. And he made clear Hezbollah would retaliate but said they were pausing attacks in the meantime in respect for the slain commander. Last night, though, Israeli attacks killed a family, including children, in south Lebanon, according to Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Just to go back a bit, Israel said the assassination in Beirut was in response to a Hezbollah attack which killed 12 children in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Hezbollah has consistently denied it. This is what the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, said at the memorial.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
HASSAN NASRALLAH: (Through interpreter) We will respond. This is certain. And they must wait.
ARRAF: President Biden, meanwhile, and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last night in a bid to de-escalate tensions.
FADEL: Now, there was also the killing of Hamas' top political official in Tehran this week. Hamas and Iran blame Israel. Israel hasn't publicly claimed responsibility. He's also being buried today?
ARRAF: He is. He's being buried in Qatar. He was Hamas' top political official, and he was killed in an attack at the guesthouse where he was staying in Tehran. In Beirut, Hamas has called for a mass march this afternoon and morning. Israel also announced it killed the head of the Hamas military wing, Mohammed Deif, in an attack in July in Gaza. And it's - this morning, it had killed a senior commander in Islamic Jihad, another militant group in Rafah.
Israel says it tried to reduce civilian casualties. It consistently says that, but Gaza health officials and other agencies say about 40,000 people, most of those women and children, have been killed in Gaza since the war began last October.
FADEL: OK, so four senior leaders killed. What effect is this expected to have?
ARRAF: Well, it will certainly - expected to have a temporary effect on operations. Two of those men were hands-on commanders. Shukr, who was killed in Lebanon, actually had a $5 million U.S. bounty on him, accused by the U.S. of being involved in the bombing of U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983. Haniyeh, though - killed in Tehran - was a key part of U.S.-brokered negotiations...
FADEL: Right.
ARRAF: ...With Israel on a cease-fire, and that could be a serious setback to those.
FADEL: Amid all that - I mean, you're in Beirut - how nervous are people there and in the region about what could happen next? It feels like a dangerous moment.
ARRAF: Yeah, they're pretty nervous. The U.S. Embassy has now told citizens not to travel to Lebanon, and if they're there, to be prepared to shelter in place. And other embassies have done the same. Israel also is on high alert.
FADEL: That's NPR's Jane Arraf in Beirut. Thank you, Jane.
ARRAF: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF BILL LAURANCE'S "ZEAL") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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