Salaam Association | Bridge between Japan and Kuwait

The Path of Construction that Begins with Overcoming the ‘War on Terrorism’ (Part 2)

By Ikuzo Kobayashi, President to Salaam Association

From the Winter Issue of the electronic “Salaam Quarterly Bulletin”, No.52, Feb 2025

On October 7, 2023, a massive attack on Israel by Hamas and radical Islamic terrorist groups that began in Gaza plunged Israel into a “state of war” overnight. Prime Minister Netanyahu was quick to announce to the public that a state of war had been declared and formed a war cabinet. The Israeli War Cabinet immediately decided to invoke Israel’s right to self-defense and to wage all-out war against Hamas. The result was the invasion of Gaza by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
The IDF deterred spread of war that started with Hamas’ massive attack, and the deployment of the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Gerard Ford in the sea off Israel prevented Iran’s participation in the war. The 40-day offensive between the IDF and Hamas led to a major breakthrough and the release of more than 100 hostages. The IDF regained control over the northern half of Gaza, transformed the “state of war”into a regional battle in the southern half of Gaza by the beginning of 2024. The IDF’s sweep against Hamas proceeded steadily until the end of April, leaving only the border area of Rafah as battleground.
In May, a limited ground operation in Rafah began. On June 17, it was announced that two battalions, half of the Rafah Battalions had been disbanded and that 8,000 fighters were on the run among the civilian population. On July 13, the head of the military wing of Hamas was killed.On July 31, Hamas’ supreme leader, Haniya, was killed in a bombing in Tehran, Iran. (Synopsis of previous issue)

3. 3rd phase of the invasion of Gaza

(1) Ismail Haniya Killed

Haniya’ s body was transported by truck from Tehran and buried in Qatar.　(Left) Photo published in the Sekai Nippo on August 3, 2024

BBC NEWS announced on July 31 that Ismail Haniya, the political director (the top leader) of the Islamic organization Hamas, was killed in the Iranian capital Tehran in an Israeli attack. The New York Times reported on August 1 that Haniya was assassinated by an explosive device secretly installed in the compound where he was staying.
Hamas won a majority in the 2006 Palestinian general elections, and Haniya was appointed prime minister by PA (Palestinian Authority) President Mahmoud Abbas, but was dismissed after a year of strife between Hamas and Fatah. Hamas subsequently expelled Fatah from Gaza. As a result, Gaza became a territory effectively controlled by Hamas with its armed forces, and Fatah only controlled the West Bank politically. This has continued to the present day.
Therefore, Hamas, which does not recognize the right of Jews to exist and does not recognize the State of Israel, is not a party that can participate in a Palestinian government recognized by the world, since the Palestinian Authority, which was also recognized by Israel through the Oslo Accords, is premised on recognizing the State of Israel and the life and human rights of Jews. Therefore, although Haniya is the top leader of Hamas, which effectively controls Gaza, Hamas itself is not a party that can be part of the Palestinian government. Despite this, he apparently participated in the July 30 inauguration of Iran’s new president, Pezeshkian.

(2) Hamas Battalions Destroyed

Video dated 2024.10.18, Asahi Shimbun Digital

The IDF (Israel Defense Forces), with the strategic objective of liberating the hostages by destroying Hamas, began a ground war in the southernmost area of Rafah on May 8, 2024. Forty days later, the IDF dismantled two of the four Hamas battalions in Rafah, and a month later, the supreme leader of the Hamas army, Muhammad Deif, was killed. And the aforementioned Hamas top leader Haniya was bombed to death in Tehran. Haniya was succeeded by Shinwar, who is said to be the mastermind of the October 7 attacks, and he was announced to have been elected the top leader.
On September 14, the two remaining battalions in Rafah were dismantled, the Hamas battalions were wiped out, and the IDF took complete control of Rafah city center. The IDF took full control of the Philadelphia Corridor, destroying 203 tunnels 13 km long in the south. The IDF was able to dismantle all 23 battalions of Hamas. As the IDF concentrated on the mop up campaign against Hamas through ground urban warfare, Hamas top leader Shinwar was killed in the Rafah urban battle on October 17.
Up-right is a screenshot of the video of the Israeli army just before Sinwar’s killing, posted on X by an IDF spokesperson. (Text in the screen and caption up-right the screen, “Israeli army kills Shinwar, accidentally. From rubble after battle.”)　

(3) Israeli Prime Minister announces killing of Hamas leader Shinwar

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the killing of Hamas leader Shinwar. Shinwar’s death was confirmed by his medical records and fingerprints. In the video, Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “Mr. Shinwar is responsible for the worst massacre that has befallen our people since the Holocaust, killing thousands of Israelis and holding hundreds of our people hostage.” “My top priority is to continue to do everything in my power until they all return.” “I say this to the people of Gaza. Sinwar has destroyed your livelihoods. He claimed to be a lion, but in reality he was hiding in a dark tunnel. He was killed while fleeing our soldiers in a panic…. Hamas will not control Gaza any more. This is the beginning of the post-Hamas era. This is our chance to finally liberate ourselves from Hamas tyranny.”

Video description, Prime Minister Netanyahu announces killing of Hamas leader Shinwar (BBC NEWS JAPAN 2024.10.18)

II Fighting with Hezbollah

1. Strategy to avoid a two-front operation against Hezbollah

The Israeli large-scale cross-border attack from Gaza on October 7, 2023, was a terrorist attack led by Hamas and Islamic Jihad (PIJ: Palestinian Islamic Jihad), but how Hezbollah, which has its main forces in southern Lebanon, would respond to the attack was apparently unclear to Israel. There was no doubt that Hezbollah will respond to Hamas and take part in the war, but it is not known how the two sides reached an agreement. In launching an all-out war on Gaza, Israel wants to avoid a two-front war with Hezbollah and Hamas. In other words, Israel wants to respond to Hezbollah in a restrained manner and limit its retaliation in proportion to the scale of the attack.

However, both Hezbollah and the Syrian Shiite militias are basically under the command of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force. Thus, it is unclear what level of agreement Iran has reached on this large-scale Hamas attack, but it does not appear that there was a total agreement. Nevertheless, it was essential for Prime Minister Netanyahu to deter Iran with the backing of the United States. As a result, on October 8, U.S. Secretary of Defense William Austin announced the dispatch of the state-of-the-art U.S. aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford to the Eastern Mediterranean in order to “prevent Iran from taking advantage of the instability in the region.”

2. Fight against Hezbollah

(1) Cutting off ties between Hamas and Hezbollah

Saleh al-Arouri (left), a senior member of the Islamic organization Hamas, and Yahya Sinwar, a leader of the Gaza Strip (screenshot and caption by BBC NEWS Japan, January 3, 2024)

Hezbollah expressed support for Hamas’ attacks on Israel, fired rockets into Israel, and intensified its terrorist activities in northern Israel. In response, the Israeli military launched only a retaliatory counterattack to avoid a two-front operation. The IDF’s successful invasion of Gaza, which resulted in the Hamas’ loss of control of its battalions in the northern half of Gaza after about a month of fighting, prevented the Hamas side from expanding the war into the West Bank, and deterred the possibility of a spread of the war into the northern border region of Israel in coordination with Hezbollah.

(2) Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Syria attacked

In response to the cross-border attacks on northern Israel by the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah, which have intensified since the Gaza conflict began, and the Iranian-backed Syrian militias that have crossed the border from Syria to attack Israel, Israel has advised the northern residents to evacuate the area. The number of evacuated residents was reported to exceed 50,000.
According to a report by BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen in BBC NEWS Japan on February 9, 2024 based on the account of Israeli military reservists mobilized after residents evacuation in northernmost Israel, “Hezbollah, unlike Hamas, is a real army and is well trained. They are well equipped, well informed, and have a lot of practical battle experience in Syria.” A retired colonel, the head of the local authority, said, “This is the most unstable front. If war with Hamas should break out, the situation could be worse than in Gaza and should not be treated as an addition to the fighting in Gaza.”

On April 2, 2024, Israeli aircraft attacked the consulate next to the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria, from the Golan Heights. The entire consulate building was destroyed. However, the Iranian Embassy was not damaged. Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, senior commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force, and his deputy, Brigadier General Haji-Rahimi, were killed in the consular office. Zahedi was the Revolutionary Guard’s senior officer in charge of foreign operations and served as commander in Syria and Lebanon from 2008 to 2016.

The Iranian embassy was apparently not damaged. (screenshot, captions from BBC NEWS Japan, April 2, 2024)

Airstrike on Iranian embassy in Syria kills Brigadier General Zahedi and scores of senior military officials, as conflict continues to escalate.(video screenshot, captions from BBC NEWS Japan, April 2, 2024)

On April 13, Iran attacked Israel with 120 ballistic missiles, 30 cruise missiles, and 170 drones. The Israeli military was not alone in intercepting the missiles. Jordan also intercepted them and Saudi Arabia and the UAE cooperated.
The deaths of Brigadier Generals Zahedi and Haji-Rahimi of the Qods Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps effectively meant the loss of two top commanders who could command Hezbollah and Syrian Shiite militias according to Iran’s wishes. Israel was prepared for Iranian retaliation for this. However, in response to the Iranian attack on April 13, it obtained the cooperation of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, not to mention the cooperation of the U.S.military. This support is tantamount to the support of the Arab nations, and its significance is great. This can be understood as the Arab countries’ attitude of NO to terrorism and NO to Hezbollah, which has become the vanguard of Iran’s exports of revolution.
This is not unrelated to the Israeli army’s (IDF) decision to step up ground fighting in the southernmost part of Gaza in May. The IDF dismantled half of the Rafah Battalions in the two months of May-June. The IDF dismantled half of the Rafah Battalion in the two months of May-June, followed by the death of Deif, the head of Hamas’ military wing, on July 13, and the death of Haniya, Hamas’ top leader, on July 31.

(3) Killing of Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah’s top official, and Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s supreme leader.

Fuad Shukr: Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force in Syria. (photos by Mt. Olive News Agency, August 1, 2024)

The IDF bombed the Lebanese capital Beirut on July 30. The attack was in retaliation for a rocket fired by Hezbollah that landed on a school in northern Israel, killing 12 people. The retaliatory airstrike killed Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah’s top official.
On September 14, Hamas battalions were wiped out. Prime Minister Netanyahu announced the start of targeted airstrikes on southern Lebanon. Hezbollah fighters number 50,000 and they reportedly possess 150,000 long-range missiles plus rockets capable of carrying 100kg payload. Hezbollah is described as ‘the most heavily armed non-state organization in the world’. Israel has launched a cleanup operation against Hezbollah. It began with airstrikes to drive Hezbollah into the Litani River, 30 kilometers north of the Israeli border. Furthermore, on September 17-18, pager-type communication devices exploded throughout Lebanon. The Hezbollah member-specified communication device explosions killed 40 people and wounded more than 3,000.
On September 19, Nasrallah condemned “the simultaneous explosions of communication devices throughout Lebanon as a ‘declaration of war’ by Israel,” and said, “The resistance will not end regardless of the outcome or casualties. We will continue our attacks until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.” International public opinion, fearing that the fierce fighting between the two sides would escalate into a war with Iran, increased pressure for a ceasefire.
On September 26, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, appearing after President Abbas’ speech at the UN General Assembly, passionately stated, “As long as Hezbollah chooses the path of war, Israel has no choice.” Shortly thereafter, Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered the launch of a missile targeting Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut. Nasrallah, who was in the underground Hezbollah headquarters, was killed.

September 29, 2024, 0:26 AM NHK International News video screenshot. The missile fired by Israel was described as an underground penetrating bomb, and Nasrallah, who was in the underground Hezbollah headquarters, was killed.

3.Ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon

Israel is not at war with Lebanon, and it is ‘fighting’ Hezbollah. To put it plainly, it is fighting Hezbollah’s military wing. There are 20 countries that have designated Hezbollah (the entire organization) as a terrorist group, including Israel, the U.K., the U.S., Germany, the UAE, and Bahrain. The Gulf Cooperation Organization (a six nation summit organization of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman) also lists the entire organization as a terrorist group. The United Kingdom considered only the military wing of Hezbollah a terrorist organization prior to 2019, distinguishing the politicalwing as a social organization, but in March 2019, designated the entire organization as a terrorist organization, stating that it is difficult to distinguish between the political and military wings of Hezbollah.
France and the EU have designated Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist organization. Incidentally, Japan follows France in designating only Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist organization. The Lebanese government’s attitude toward Hezbollah in the future will depend on public opinion in Lebanon, which is influenced by France, the former suzerain state of Lebanon, and the Maronite Christianity, and which seeks economic development.
The November 27 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon was the result of the Lebanese government’s ability to suppress Hezbollah’s ideologically-driven hard-line and militant behavior toward Israel. This should be an opportunity for the dysfunctional government to recover.

4. The end of the war on terror

Terrorism is not justified on any grounds.
The October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack proved that the Sunni extremist jihadists’ and Shiite extremist Iranian-style revolutionaries’ attempts to argue that terrorism against Jews and the State of Israel is permissible were wrong, not justified or ideal, not supported by international public opinion, and not conducive to the building of a Palestinian state.
Hamas’ responsible for plunging Gaza into a futile war of terror is grave and its political agents hiding in the West Bank, Qatar, Turkey, and other countries who call themselves the political wing of Hamas are not qualified to be involved in the reconstruction of Gaza. Some Palestinian Authority (PA) politicians who have taken a sympathetic, cooperative, or conciliatory stance toward Hamas should also be held accountable.
I hope that the Lebanese government, in the process of implementing the ceasefire agreement with Israel, will put the restoration of the government’s functions on track and demonstrate Lebanon’s reconstruction through economic cooperation with Israel over the development of gas fields.
After 12 years of civil war, the Assad regime in Syria collapsed with the retreat of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. I hope that Mr. Jaulani, the leader of the Shahm Liberation Organization (HTS), who assumed the presidency of an interim government until the new constitution was enacted, will consolidate a new government that has broken ties with terrorism. The Taliban regime, which promised the U.S. to establish a new Afghan government that would break ties with al-Qaeda, is still in breach of the agreement. It is hoped that the Syrian HTS will be a government that will not be criticized that it is just more of the same.
It is my hope that the Middle East will move forward from a break with terrorism to the eradication of terrorism.