Israel abandons plans to kill Hezbollah leader

Israel has quietly backed off from its plan to assassinate Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah because of the international condemnation that his killing would create, the Israeli daily newspaper Maariv reported today.

During the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah that ended on August 14, Israel had targeted the Hezbollah leader for assassination, security officials said, according to Maariv.