February: Three Dates and Three Killings

Abbas al-Musawi

Former Hezbollah Secretary-General Abbas al-Musawi was killed on February 16, 1992, 30 years ago. IDF helicopters attacked his convoy with missiles while traveling in southern Lebanon. As a result of the attack, Musawi was killed along with six other people including his wife and son.

Musawi, who served as Hezbollah’s secretary-general from 1991 until his assassination, was an influential cleric who was deeply influenced by the Shiite radical ideology of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the father of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

About a month after his assassination, Hezbollah avenged his death by carrying out an attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

29 people were killed as a result of the embassy explosion. Hassan Nasrallah was elected as Musa’i’s successor and has since served as Hezbollah’s leader.

Rafic Hariri

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri was assassinated on February 14, 2005, 17 years ago. A car bomb exploded near his convoy of vehicles, which was traveling near the St. George Hotel in Beirut. Following the assassination, UN officials launched an investigation in search of the assassins.

In January 2011, indictments were filed for the assassination in the International Court of Justice in The Hague against four Hezbollah members, and arrest warrants were issued against them.
In August 2020, the court convicted (not in the presence) Hezbollah operative Salim Jamil Ayash of involvement in the assassination.
The whereabouts of the activist are unknown…

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Rafik al-Hariri was called the “father of the new Lebanese nation” because he led and greatly assisted in the reconstruction of Lebanon after the civil war.

Rafiq Hariri
Rafiq Hariri (Photo from https://catalog.archives.gov/id/6680595)

Imad Mughniyeh

former Hezbollah military commander Imad Mughniyeh was killed on February 12, 2008, 14 years ago. He got into his car at night in the Sousa neighborhood in the heart of Damascus. A few seconds later, a charge placed in it exploded and caused his death. According to various media outlets, the operation was attributed to a joint operation by American and Israeli intelligence agencies.


Imad Fayez Mughniyeh, aka al-Hajj Radwan, served as Hezbollah’s military commander and was considered number 2 in Hezbollah after Nasrallah. Mughniyeh was responsible for many operations and attacks against Israel and the United States. Among other operations, he commanded the attack on the American embassy and the headquarters of the Marines in Beirut, attack on the Israeli Embassy and the building of the Jewish community in Argentina, abductions of Western diplomats, abductions of Israeli soldiers, and many other operations until the day of his death.

Imad Mughniyeh (Photo from ar.wikipedia.org)

Three dates and three killings changed the face of the leadership in two countries: Lebanon and Hezbollah…

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Tal Beeri

Tal Beeri

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