Nasrallah's killing could unleash an ominous challenge for Israel

Destruction of Hezbollah may spur Iran to move quickly to acquire nuclear weapons

- Jonathan Eyal

The death of Hassan Nasrallah, the powerful head of the Hezbollah Shi'ite militia who was killed in an Israeli strike in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, represents a historic turning point for the entire Middle East.

For the moment, there is no question that Israel has succeeded in humbling and perhaps even sidelining Hezbollah, the Jewish state's most immediate and lethal enemy.

But in the longer run, Nasrallah's killing could unleash more ominous developments for both Israel and the world. This is a bombshell with unforeseen circumstances.

The 64-year-old Nasrallah, who has led Hezbollah - the Iran-backed "Party of God" - for over three decades, was a deeply polarising figure.

Many Arab leaders regarded him as a dangerous agent of Iran. And he was detested by many non-Shi'ite Lebanese, who blamed him for dragging their country into a never-ending military confrontation with Israel. But Nasrallah was revered by most Shi'ites in Lebanon - who account for around a third of the country's population - and admired by many radicals throughout the Middle East for his strategic acumen. With the help of Iran, Nasrallah transformed Hezbollah into one of the world's most powerful non-state actors. Until recently, the militia's warehouses included an estimated 150,000 missiles and various projectiles, a more extensive arsenal than most of the world's sovereign nations. Hezbollah fought Israel to a stalemate in 2006. Since then, the organisation has become the main pillar in the Middle East's so-called "Axis of Resistance", a group of radical militias in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, all trained, financed and supplied by Iran. Fearing an Israeli assassination attempt, Nasrallah was not seen in public for years, although he often said that he craved "martyrdom". Yet both friends and foes treated his frequent televised speeches as valuable indicators for the future of the entire region.