Israel has backed off its plan to assassinate Hizbullah's chief because of the international condemnation that his killing would create, the Israeli daily Maariv reported Friday. During the July-August war between Israel and Hizbullah that ended last month, Israel had targeted Hassan Nasrallah for assassination, security officials said, according to Maariv.
When the war ended, the army recommended that the efforts to kill Nasrallah be called off because his assassination would lead to international criticism of Israel and would ignite an even more violent war, Maariv reported. However, the government declined to call off the hunt, the newspaper reported.
A week ago, Nasrallah emerged from hiding to address a massive rally in Beirut. Israel army officials determined they could kill him with an airstrike during the rally, but dozens of bystanders also would be killed, Maariv reported.
The government decided an airstrike was not worth the risk, and accepted the army's recommendation that it should abandon efforts to kill Nasrallah for the time being, the newspaper reported.
