An increase in the rank of the eliminated figures means harming members of Hezbollah’s Jihad Council. It is possible that harming them will constitute Hezbollah’s “excuse” it seeks (and in our assessment also wants) to start an all-out war against Israel. In addition, in our assessment, Hezbollah’s security unit severely restricts the movement of Jihad Council members in order to maintain their security and they are not physically present in southern Lebanon. That is, they are not within the “agreed-upon” geographical boundaries of the fighting. They are most likely in the Dahia area of Beirut, and if not there, then somewhere else challenging to attack.
On the other hand, there are two members of the Jihad Council who are directly connected to the current fighting and are conducting it. The first is Ibrahim Aqil, head of Hezbollah’s operations division, whose responsibility includes the Radwan unit and the aerial unit. The second is Ali Karki, commander of Hezbollah’s Southern Front, under which the geographic units in southern Lebanon operate (Nasser, Aziz and Badr).
In light of their roles, Ibrahim Aqil and Ali Karki are legitimate targets for preventive measures and should be defined as being “within the boundaries of the sector.” This is in light of their direct responsibility for Hezbollah’s activity in southern Lebanon against Israel. This definition will be reinforced if one of them is physically present for one reason or another in southern Lebanon. In such a case, given the operational opportunity, the need to eliminate one of them is clear and immediate.
