2024 has undoubtedly been a year of high-quality (and numerous) targeted assassinations carried out by Israel, spanning various arenas: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran. Here’s the chronological list of notable eliminations:
2.1: Saleh al-Arouri – Deputy Head of Hamas’ Political Bureau, assassinated in an Israeli strike in Beirut (the first attack in Beirut during the war).
8.1: Wissam al-Tawil – Senior commander in the Radwan Force, killed in a strike in Khirbet Selm, southern Lebanon. The first significant Hezbollah figure eliminated in the current war.
9.3: Marwan Issa – Deputy Commander of Hamas’ military wing (Mohammed Deif’s right-hand man). Played a key role in negotiations for the Shalit deal. Killed in an Israeli strike in the Nuseirat RC in central Gaza.
1.4: Mohammad Reza Zahedi – Iranian commander of the Syria-Lebanon sector for the Quds Force in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Eliminated in a bold Israeli strike near Iran’s embassy in Damascus. This strike, viewed as an attack on Iranian sovereignty, led Iran to retaliate with hundreds of UAV missile strikes – the first direct Iranian strike on Israeli territory.
13.7: Mohammed Deif – Supreme Commander of Hamas’ military wing – al-Qassam Brigades, killed along with Khan Younis Brigade commander Rafah Salameh in the humanitarian zone in Khan Younis. Deif was among the most wanted for decades, orchestrating the October 7 massacre and multiple deadly terror attacks in the 1990s.
30.7: Fuad Shukr – Hezbollah’s most senior military commander and head of its strategic operations. Effectively Hezbollah’s Chief of Staff, he was killed in a response to Hezbollah rocket fire that caused the deaths of 12 children in the Israeli town of Majdal Shams.
20.9: Ibrahim Aqil – Head of Hezbollah’s Operations Directorate, effectively the commander of the Radwan Unit, and leader of the “Galilee Conquest Plan.” Following Fuad Shukur’s death, he became Hezbollah’s most senior military figure (second only to Nasrallah). Was killed in an airstrike in Dahieh, Beirut, during a meeting with senior Radwan Force commanders.
27.9: Hassan Nasrallah – Secretary-General of Hezbollah and the most powerful and influential figure in the Shiite-Iranian axis. A man who carried the axis on his shoulders and led it masterfully with unmatched rhetorical skills—unparalleled in this field, truly in a league of his own. He was killed in a strike involving 83 tons of explosives on the underground bunker in Dahieh, Beirut. This was the axis’s greatest loss since the assassination of Qasem Soleimani and the most significant assassination carried out by Israel in recent years. A blow that shook the Shiite-Iranian axis to its core.
27.9: Ali Karaki – Commander of Hezbollah’s southern front, killed alongside Nasrallah.
27.9: Abbas Nilforoushan – The highest-ranking Iranian killed in Lebanon during the war. He served as the successor to Mohammad Reza Zahedi as the regional commander of the Quds Force in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Killed alongside Nasrallah.
4.10: Hashem Safi al-Din – Head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council, considered a potential successor to Nasrallah. Killed a week after Nasrallah in a bunker strike in Dahieh, Beirut.
4.10: Hussein Ali al-Hazimeh – Head of Hezbollah’s intelligence branch, killed in the same strike as Safi al-Din.
16.10: Yahya Sinwar – Head of Hamas’ Political Bureau (appointed after Haniyeh’s assassination). He served as the leader of Hamas in Gaza and was one of the masterminds and planners of the October 7 attack. Released to Gaza in the Shalit Deal in 2011, he climbed the Hamas ranks until reaching the top. He transformed Israel-Gaza relations entirely after his release from prison, leaving a lasting impact on the Middle East. Sinwar was killed by IDF soldiers operating in Rafah, who only realized it was him after his death.
17.11: Mohammad Afif – Hezbollah’s propaganda unit head and spokesperson. Eliminated in the Ba’ath Party offices in Ras al-Nabaa, Beirut (outside Dahieh).
