The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, was nearly assassinated by poison, Israel’s leading news sources were reporting Wednesday, citing a report on an Iraqi Web site.

Full Article

While the culprit is still unknown, it’s entirely possible Israel did this, as they’ve taken out other terrorist leaders in a similar fashion in the past.  If that’s true, then it only reinforces an obvious message:  don’t mess with Israel, because once they decide to act, they don’t screw around.

Honestly, though, it could be any number of organizations.  The average terrorist leader has a lot of enemies, and I suspect the average lifespan is pretty short.

MEMRI TV has a couple of clips on recently-released terrorist, child-killer and flat-out evil dude Samir Kuntar that are worth checking out:

Released Lebanese Terrorist Samir Al-Quntar Vows to Fight under Hizbullah: Allah Willing, I Will Kill More Israelis

Al-Jazeera TV Throws a Birthday Party for Released Lebanese Terrorist Samir Al-Quntar

Israel on high alert for Hizballah attacks
By Israel Today Staff

Israeli military officials are concerned that Lebanon’s Hizballah terrorist militia will renew hostilities against the Jewish state following a prisoner swap scheduled for Wednesday.

Article Continues… (Israel Today)

If fear of an attack from Hizballah puts Israel on high alert, shouldn’t they always be on high alert?

Hezbollah to Israel: Missing airman believed dead
By Laurie Copans

Lebanon’s Hezbollah has told Israel it does not know what happened to an airman missing for more than two decades but it believes he is dead, Israeli officials said Saturday. The report could clear the way for a prisoner swap between the two foes.

Article Continues… (AP via Google)

There have been a few stories about the whereabouts of Ron Arad that have surfaced over the years, obviously the ones that say he’s still alive are the most popular (the most interesting one I found had him as a prisoner in Iran who couldn’t walk; he underwent forced surgery to disable his legs following escape attempts). However, even though I’m on the bandwagon that wants a happy ending, the truth is that none of the terrorist organizations in that part of the world are going to keep a prisoner for that long. If anything, they’d kill him and try to keep the illusion alive in orer to get Israel to release a couple hundred prisoners.

As sad a reality as it is, Ron Arad has probably been dead for a long time.

Hizballah planning next attack on Israel
By Israel Today Staff Writer

While Israel prepares to conduct a lopsided trade with Hizballah, exchanging a celebrity terrorist killer for the bodies of two soldiers believed to already be dead, the Lebanese terror group is readying its next attack against the Jewish state.

Article Continues… (Israel Today)

This is retaliation for the assassination of Imad Mughniyah. While I don’t think Israel killed him, they’d be totally justified if they did. Either way, another war with Hizb’Allah is coming, and I suspect it’ll be much bigger than the last.

Senior Hezbollah terrorist Imad Mughniyeh has been placed on a pedestal of glory in various articles in the official Palestinian Authority Fatah daily. Western countries have expressed virtually unanimous relief that the terrorist, wanted by 42 countries and on the FBI’s most wanted list, was killed by a car bomb in Damascus on February 12, 2008. The Palestinian Authority, on the other hand, has been using the media under its to mourn his death. through its controlled media has been mourning his death.

One article by a senior Fatah leader describes Mughniyeh as an “extraordinary hero… unequaled Hezbollah commander … a beacon of light.” His killing is called a “murder in broad daylight… a tragedy that has hurt every Lebanese, every Palestinian, every Arab, and every free man on the face of this earth.” The revenge for his death will be more terror and eventually Israel’s destruction.

So wrote Fatah leader Ahmad Dahbur, until recently the undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture, in Al Hayat Al Jadida, the official PA daily controlled by Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction. His article, along with others paying lavish tribute to the dead terrorist, makes no mention of the fact that Mughniyeh was responsible for the murders of hundreds of civilians and soldiers in worldwide terror attacks. Among his many international terror attacks, Mughniyeh was responsible for the killing of 241 American soldiers of the peacekeeping force in Lebanon in 1983.

The Palestinian Authority has glorified his years of murder as heroic. It describes him repeatedly as a “Shahid” (Islamic Martyr), the highest Islamic status, and has run his photo with that caption. He is crowned the “Knight of Lebanese Resistance.”

The PA newspaper, assuming it was Israel who killed him (Israel has denied involvement in the killing), refers to Israel as “the treacherous Zionist enemy,” reiterates the PA’s “rage and hatred” for Israel and promises more “resistance the PA euphemism for terror) … the blow which will hand over death.”

In another article, the daily describes how a lawyers’ association in Gaza mourned his death, and called his killing “a crime of organized state terror.”

The PA daily also published a letter to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah from Samir Kuntar, a Lebanese terrorist serving four life sentences in an Israeli prison for the murders of four Israelis, including a four-year-old girl whose skull he crushed with rocks and a rifle butt. The unrepentant Kuntar likewise glorifies his fellow terrorist Mughnyeh as one member of the “distinguished, glamorous convoys” of Shahids, and vows to follow in his footsteps.

Finally, a military wing of Fatah – the Ahmad Abu Al Rish Martyrs Brigades – has already carried out a terror attack in his honor.

The following are the articles from the PA daily Al Hayat Al Jadida lauding Imad Mugniyeh. Note: [Hajj Radwan was Mughniyeh's "nom de guerre"]

1- Hajj Radwan [Imad Mugniyeh] by Ahmad Dahbur, former undersecretary of the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Culture, senior journalist for Fatah controlled Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, in his daily column.

“The treacherous Zionist enemy will never permit us to lessen our revenge towards him, or to stray from our confrontation against him, until he is wiped off this land, which is saturated with the blood of the Shahids (Islamic Martyrs). And what is the fall of the Knight of Lebanese Resistance, Hajj Imad Mugniyeh, if not one of the signs of the nation’s Jihad – persistent and definitely unstoppable till the Zionist Project [Israel] will be defeated.

Did I say ‘Lebanese resistance’? Certainly I did, and entirely with praise and pride. The history of Hajj Radwan – Imad Mugniyeh – will testify to this; a history which is part of the history of the Palestinian-Lebanese resistance. From the time he joined Fatah as a youth, and till he later became a unequalled Hezbollah commander, when his name became a beacon of light shining from The Lebanese July Victory [Second Lebanon War, 2006].

Hajj Radwan deserves all glory and praise for evoking confusion and alarm among the Zionists, whether he be alive or a Shahid [i.e, Islamic Martyr]. Such an extraordinary hero can cause the enemy to loose its wits. Evidence of this is that Olmert directly threatens to eliminate the leaders of the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance, and the Mossad commits a murder in broad daylight, while at the same time confused and conflicting Hebrew press releases declare that Olmert disassociates himself from the crime, for fear of the inevitable retaliation … but also publish [Israeli MKs] Dani Yatom, Ephraim Sneh, and Arieh Eldad’s gloating congratulatory messages to the Mossad which are drenched with poison.

It makes no difference whether the Zionist bat camouflages himself by hiding in the dark, or whether the crazy hyenas take pride in the crime, because the enemy announces his criminal presence with such language that it is as if he is caught with a smoking gun. The criminal’s hands are still covered in blood, when he gives us more reasons to intensify our hate towards him, though we do not lack reasons for this [hate] in the first place. This rage and hatred will rage with even further resistance [euphemism for "terror"- editor] and with a blow of death…

Today the body of the Shahid Hajj Imad Mugniyeh will exit the “Sayyid al-Shuhada” mosque in a procession in which the brave Lebanese resistance [Hezbollah] will escort the body down the [wedding] aisle, and the sister [organizations of the] Palestinian resistance will congratulate it and the beloved faces of Shahids [former Islamic Martyrs] from all around the world will surround it [his body]…

…In the presence of the Shahada [Martyrdom] and blood which prevails over the Phantom [jet] and the Merkava [Israeli

tank], our souls seek … to stand at the head of the ranks when they offer their condolences to the Lebanese resistance movement lead by Hezbollah. Along with [Hezbollah Leader] Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, we will ask ourselves who is the one consoling and who is the one being consoled as this is a tragedy that has hurt every Lebanese, every Palestinian, every Arab, and every free man on the face of this earth. This is because every free man partakes in Hajj Radwan’s (Mugniyeh’s) glory…

Indeed the thing that consoles [us] is what we hear of the Mujahideen‘s [Jihad fighter's] pledge to the combatant Shahid [martyr], that they will avenge his blood… not out of a desire to die but out of an understanding of the meaning of resistance [terror], as either victory or Istishhad [Death as a Shahid].

If there is any reason to give the enemy [Israel] advice, we advise the pack of hyenas not to rejoice, because in war – the scale tips at times to one side and at times to the other. They are treacherous and they will retreat, and the resistance will retaliate and prevail.

An abundance of mercy is due to the Shahid – Hajj Rudwan Imad Mugniyeh. May his blood serve as the ink for a new document of fraternity, which will unite the Jihad’s fighters, as they all join to escort one of their most noble symbols to his burial… The companions of the Shahid, his relatives and acquaintances, will be blessed with this radiant decoration which he has been honored with today, and with it he has become a crown for Arab Lebanon, precious, exalted and Jihad Fighter. And from Lebanon to all the Arabs – “Hail the victory of the Mujahidun! [Jihad Fighters!]“

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, February 14, 2008]

2 – Heading: A delegation of the Lawyers Association arrived at the house of mourning for the Shahid Imad Mugniyeh.

“A delegation of close to 30 lawyers the Islamic Association of Lawyers paid a visit to the mourning house of the outstanding military commander of the Lebanese resistance, Imad Mugniyeh, which is being overseen by the National and Islamic Forces in Gaza City. In its speech, the delegation emphasized that the murder of Mugniyeh was a crime of organized state terror, which violates all international and human conventions and rules. The delegation added that Mugniyeh’s Shahada [Islamic Martyrdom] will not break the strength of the resistance but will add to its spirit of resistance against the state [Israel] which oppresses everywhere.

The spokesperson for the Islamic Association of Lawyers, Professor Ayman Abu-Aysha, said that the visit to the house of mourning for the Shahid [Islamic Martyr] Mughniyeh was done in the framework of the association in order to support all forms of resistance of struggle against the Zionist occupation in all the Arab and Islamic lands.”

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah, February 17, 2008, p. 2]

3 – Heading: A Letter from ‘Al-Kuntar’ to Nasrallah celebrating Mugniyeh’s Death

“The lawyer of the prisoner Samir Kuntar has sent a letter from Kuntar [Lebanese terrorist who crushed the head of an Israeli child with his gun while murdering 4] to Hezbollah’s secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, in which he congratulates him and offers him his condolences on the death of the commander Imad Mughniyeh as a Shahid. Following is the content of the letter:

My dear and honored commander and leader, The Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah,

Peace be unto you and our Shahids, and may Allah’s mercy and blessing be upon you.

Peace be unto the men in the convoys of the righteous.

Peace be unto he who has [given and has] not taken anything other than the Shahadah (Martyrdom), the highest rank of honor before Allah.

Peace be unto the distinguished, glamorous convoys [of Shahids] who travel toward eternity, toward the men of glory, dignity and pride, toward those who have marked our path for hundreds of years.

Peace be unto the last to leave, the Hajj and the leader, Imad Mughniyeh.

Peace be unto him, as he passes the mission on to those who await his arrival, as he brings them news of the glory and victories, news of steadfastness and loyalty, news of the men of promise and sincerity, news of “those who still wait; but they have never changed (their determination) in the least. [Quote from Quran, Sura 33:23. Full quote:
"Among the Believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah: of them some have completed their vow (to the extreme), and some (still) wait: but they have never changed (their determination) in the least:"

Peace be unto him, as he announces to the most honored among the believers that the anticipating convoys have chosen to draw their swords, and their swords are calling out: "Baseness will not reach us".

May peace be unto you, Hajj Imad. I pledge myself to you and hold myself committed to the promise that my place will only be in the frontier areas that have received your sweet effort and the blood of the most beloved men, and that I shall continue down the path, until complete victory.

I give to you, Sir Abu Hadi [name for Hassan Nasrallah], and to all the Mujahidin (Jihad Figthers), my congratulations and [my] renewed loyalty.

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah, February 19, 2008, p. 3]

PMW comment: It should be noted that the murderer Samir Kuntar, writer of this letter, is one of the terrorists Israel offered to exchange for information about imprisoned Israeli pilot Ran Arad, according to media sources.

4- “The Fatah’s military wing – the Ahmud Abu Al Rish Martyrs Brigades – accepted responsibility yesterday for the attack on the Israeli military post… shooting 2 missiles… They announced that the action is in dedicated to the memory of the Martyr Imad Mughniyeh.

From PMW

Defense official: Hizbullah ready to fight Israel
By Hanan Greenberg

The Hizbullah organization has completed its military and logistic preparations for a confrontation with Israel, a senior defense official told Ynet on Monday evening, based on recent intelligence assessments.

Hizbullah’s preparations reinforce the intelligence estimate that a conflict in northern Israel is closer than a wide-scale conflict in the Gaza Strip. This may be one of the reasons why the IDF is not rushing into a comprehensive operation in Gaza.

Article Continues… (Yediot Ahronot)

I’m not in the defense business, so this may be beyond my understanding, but I really don’t understand why, if you know an enemy that’s going to attack you is rearming, you’d stand back and let them do it. Israel has a LOT of international pressure for peace, but goodness…

By Reuters

JERUSALEM, (Reuters) – Israel put its embassies and other interests abroad on high alert and reinforced troops on the Lebanese border on Thursday after the assassination of Hezbollah’s top guerrilla commander.

Hezbollah’s chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah threatened Israel with “open war” after the Shi’ite Muslim group and its main backer Iran accused the Jewish state of killing Imad Moughniyeh with a car bomb in Damascus on Tuesday.

The Israeli government rejected the charge, although its Mossad spy service had long regarded Moughniyah as a “terrorist mastermind”.

Article Continues… (Israel eNews)

Let’s see…Imad Moughniyeh was killed with a car bomb in Damascus, the capital of Syria, which is another nation not on friendly terms with Israel. Add to that the fact that these terrorist factions are often warring with one another, and it’s obvious that Israel killed him. There’s no other option!

Prime minister lauds achievements of Second Lebanon War, says Shiite group ‘not inclined’ to use its weapons against Israel. Olmert recommends against wide-scale incursion in Gaza that may cost Israel more than it’s willing to pay

Full Article (Yedioth Ahronoth)

The only reason Hizb’Allah wouldn’t want to use their missiles would be if the Jewish people willing move into the sea of their own volition. Otherwise, Nasrallah and his boys are going to keep fighting.

You know, I use to work with a guy who believed all stereotypes were rooted in truth at some level (I disagree). Well, it seems we’ve found a true life example of the “dumb jock.”