Israel Reportedly Did Not Know Iranian General was in Hizbullah Convoy

It's now being reported that Israel did not deliberately target an Iranian Guards Corps general killed in a weekend strike in the Golan Heights. The Sunday attack on a Hizbullah convoy by a (presumably Israeli) helicopter has prompted threats of a "devastating storm" (note: link is to a Hizbullah website if you prefer not to go there) of retaliation by the Iranian Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in the wake of the death of IRGC General Muhammad ‘Ali Allah-Dadi.

Also killed in the convoy, according to Hizbullah, was Jihad ‘Imad Mughniyeh, (Hizbullah website again), son of the late ‘Imad Mughniyeh, the Hizbullah planning mastermind killed in a car bombing in Damascus in 2008, an attack widely blamed on Israel.

Hizbullah and Asad regime forces are fighting in the Quneitra area of the Golan Heights against Jabhat al-Nusra forces. Though Israel is hardly likely to be supporting Jabhat al-Nusra, sees Hizbullah as a traditional enemy. It has not, however, ever deliberately targeted senior IRGC officers who serve with Hizbullah, so the claims that it was unaware Allah-Dadi was in the convoy are probably true. But the killing could lead to Iranian support for an escalated Hizbullah-Israeli conflict, further spreading and further internationalizing the Syrian war.

With Israel in the midst of an election campaign, the strike could also ignite a political debate.