The site of Israel’s assassination of deputy Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in Dahiyeh, a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, January 2, 2, 2024 (Marwan Tahtah/Getty)

I joined Dublin NewsTalk’s Pat Kenny Show on Wednesday for analysis of the wider scope of the Israel-Gaza mass killings, from Lebanon to Iran to the Red Sea.

The 13-minute interview begins with Tuesday’s assassination of Saleh al-Arouri — Hamas’s deputy political head, co-founder of its military branch, leader of its forces in the West Bank, and liaison with Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iran — in southern Beirut.

I explain Hezbollah’s place in Lebanon and the state of the country. Then I detail the significance of al-Arouri’s assassination for Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran, considering whether the outcome might be an escalation of conflict on the border between northern Israel and Lebanon.

I discuss the calculations of Iran’s regime, avoiding a direct war with Israel but pursuing “indirect” attacks through Yemen’s Houthi insurgents as well as a sustained propaganda offensive.

And I conclude that, while a second front in the war may not open up, the threat of spreading violence will not ebb until Israel halts its military operations in Gaza.