Mideast on edge after killing of Hezbollah chief

Israeli killing of Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah has pushed the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East into a new extent and a more precarious dimension, with several uncertainties and the risk of further escalation gripping the region.

Israel's foes vowed revenge after Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah announced its longtime leader was killed in an Israeli air strike on Beirut suburbs on Sept. 27. With Nasrallah's cult status among his Shiite Muslim supporters, the influence he had over Lebanon's institutions and Hezbollah's formidable arsenal, his death is bound to have ripple effects across the country and the wider region.

Over his 32 years leading the organization and with the support of Iran, Nasrallah built Hezbollah into a domestic political force in Lebanon and one of the most heavily armed nonstate forces in the world.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced a three-day national mourning after the assassination. The statement added that public offices will also close on the day of Nasrallah's funeral. Hezbollah, however, has not yet announced the date for the funeral.

Protesters gathered not only in Lebanon, but also in Iran, in the occupied West Bank and Pakistan to mourn his assassination. 

World powers also warned of the killing's potential repercussions, with the spectre of all-out war looming over the Middle East.

Lebanon's army yesterday warned Lebanese against actions that would disturb public order in the crisis-hit country, calling on the public "to preserve national unity and not to be drawn into actions that may affect civil peace at this dangerous and delicate stage."

In their first statement, both Hezbollah and Israel declared that they will continue fighting, with the Israeli army vowed...