According to Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, Hezbollah is in a very difficult position. If it does not respond, then its deterrence is eroding.

“This is the second high-level assassination in a week. Saleh Al-Arouri was killed in an apparent Israeli air strike in the heart of the Hezbollah stronghold days ago. And yesterday, a senior Hezbollah field commander was killed.

“Hezbollah made an ‘initial’ response by hitting an Israeli air traffic control base, but it doesn’t seem to have deterred Israel,” Khodr says.

“Hezbollah has been trying to avoid an all-out war, calibrating its attacks. Because at the end of the day, Hezbollah can hurt Israel. It can fire rockets that can land in Tel Aviv and Haifa or anywhere in Israel. But Israel, too, can hurt Lebanon and destroy the country.

“This is the fifth high-level assassination in two weeks of a commander belonging to Iran’s so-called “resistance axis”, and Hezbollah will no doubt have to respond. But we will have to wait and see if it’s still going to be calibrated — or lead to a possible escalation,” Khodr adds.