US Will Help Defend Israel if Attacked, Pentagon Says as Hamas Chief Killed

The Hamas chief's assassination "marks a new phase of brinkmanship in the wider context of the Israel-Hamas conflict," said Burcu Ozcelik, senior research fellow for Middle East Security at the London-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank. "It will have ripple effects across the region," Ozcelik said. The two assassinations will force Tehran to "respond in a way that is deemed proportionate, but without going as far as to risk irreversible material damage and losses to Hezbollah," which it sees as a "more strategic asset than Hamas."