In the span of just a few hours, two anti-Israel terrorists, high-ranking leaders in Hamas and Hezbollah, were killed.

From JNS. The chairman of Hamas’s political bureau was killed in Iran early on Wednesday morning, according to Iranian government sources and Hamas.

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Ismail Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were reportedly killed by a missile in his Tehran guest house at 2 a.m. local time. The Hamas leader was in Iran for the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian. …

Haniyeh was killed in a “treacherous Zionist raid,” according to a Hamas social media channel. The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also confirmed Haniyeh’s death in a statement published by the Islamic Republic’s state-run media.

The Israeli government has not commented on the incident, which came a few hours after the targeted killing by Israel of senior Hezbollah official Fu’ad Shukar in the heart of Beirut, which was acknowledged by the Israeli military. …

Based in the Qatari capital of Doha, Haniyeh was one of the most senior members of Hamas, along with the terror group’s leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar. …

The Arab Gulf state, a major financial backer and political ally of Hamas, condemned the assassination, saying that the killing “and Israel’s behavior, which harms civilians, will lead to the region slipping into a cycle of chaos that will undermine the opportunities for peace.”

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas condemned the assassination in an official statement, calling it “a cowardly act and a dangerous development.” …

Iran’s terror proxy in Yemen, the Houthis, called the strike “a terrorist crime and flagrant violation.” …

Iranian officials are in “utter shock” over the assassination, sources told Gray Lady journalist Farnaz Fassihi, “because it also delivers a huge blow to Iran’s security reputation at a time it wants to project power in the region.”

An Iranian source told Reuters that the “security bodies” will decide on “our response strategy” to the assassination.

From The Times of Israel. The Israel Defense Forces struck a building in southern Beirut on Tuesday evening, killing the Hezbollah terror group’s most senior military commander, who Israel said was responsible for Saturday’s deadly rocket attack on Majdal Shams.

Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah’s most senior military commander and a right-hand man to terror leader Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in the strike, which blew a large hole into the side of an eight-story apartment building in southern Beirut, the IDF said late Tuesday.

The strike followed days of intensive diplomacy aimed at curbing Israel’s response to a rocket strike on a Golan Heights soccer field Saturday that killed 12 children, amid fears that Israel’s retaliation could lead to tensions snowballing into all-out war. …

In a statement, the IDF said that Shukr, also known as Hajj Mohsin, was responsible for the Saturday Majdal Shams strike, as well as other deadly attacks on Israel. Since Hamas’s October 7 onslaught in southern Israel, Shukr has been managing Hezbollah’s near-daily attacks against Israel, according to the military.

Shukr sat on the Jihad Council, Hezbollah’s top military body, and was the head of its strategic division, the military said.

He was named by the IDF several years ago as a commander of Hezbollah’s precision missile project. He is also wanted by the United States for his role in the 1983 bombing of a US Marines barracks in Beirut, with a $5 million bounty placed on his head by Washington.

The IDF said he was also a senior military advisor to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, serving as his “right-hand man.”

The IDF said he was “responsible for the majority of Hezbollah’s most advanced weaponry, including precise-guided missiles, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, long-range rockets, and UAVs” and for the terror group’s “force build-up, planning, and execution of terror attacks against the State of Israel.” …

According to the US State Department’s Rewards for Justice program, in addition to advising Nasrallah, Shukr sits on the Jihad Council, Hezbollah’s top military body. …

Shortly after the strike, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant tweeted in English: “Hezbollah crossed the red line.”

It was the first Israeli attack on the Lebanese capital since a January strike that killed Hamas’s deputy leader abroad Saleh al-Arouri.

The strike came after days of Israeli officials threatening a harsh response to the Hezbollah rocket attack that killed 12 children playing on a soccer field and playground in Majdal Shams, a Druze town in the Golan Heights. …

The Israeli airstrike was precipitated by a flurry of diplomatic activity with Western nations seeking to avoid a larger escalation and urging both Israeli and Lebanese officials to practice restraint. A number of airlines canceled flights to Beirut over the past few days, and Lufthansa canceled several flights to Tel Aviv. …

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(Excerpts from JNS and The Times of Israel. Photo Credit: Council.gov.ru, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=144057824)