International

Top Hezbollah Commander Killed In Israeli Airstrike On Beirut

Published

3 months ago

Sep 21, 2024.

Dennis

Israel carried out an airstrike on Beirut on Friday, killing a top Hezbollah commander along with other senior figures from the Lebanese group, as it pledged to continue its military campaign until securing the area near the Lebanese border.

Both the Israeli military and a Lebanese security source confirmed that Ibrahim Aqil, a prominent member of Hezbollah’s elite unit, was among those killed in the strike, marking a significant escalation in the long-standing conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed group.

EDITOR’S PICKS

Hezbollah acknowledged Aqil’s death in a statement just after midnight, describing him as “one of its top leaders,” though it did not disclose specific details of the incident.

Later, Hezbollah provided more information on Aqil’s life, stating he was killed in the Dahiyeh district of southern Beirut, calling the attack a “treacherous Israeli assassination.”

According to Lebanon’s health ministry, at least 14 people were killed in the strike, with the death toll expected to rise as rescue efforts continued overnight. It was unclear if the fatalities included Aqil and the other Hezbollah commanders. The ministry also reported that at least 66 people were injured, nine of whom were critically wounded.

A second security source revealed that at least six additional Hezbollah commanders died when multiple missiles struck the entrance of a building’s garage, causing an explosion that devastated the lower levels of the structure where Aqil and the other commanders had been meeting.

Witnesses described hearing a loud whistling sound followed by a series of consecutive blasts at the time of the attack.

In a brief statement relayed by Israeli media, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized that Israel’s objectives were clear and that its actions spoke for themselves.

The strike inflicted another blow on Hezbollah after two days of attacks in which pagers and walkie-talkies used by its members exploded, killing 37 people and wounding thousands. Those attacks were widely believed to have been carried out by Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.

Local broadcasters showed groups of people gathered near the site, and reported they were searching for missing people, most of them children. Drones were still flying over Beirut’s southern suburbs hours after the strike.

“We are not afraid, but we want a solution. We cannot continue with the country like this,” said Alain Feghali, a resident of Beirut who spoke to Reuters. “War? I don’t know if it started or not, but nothing is reassuring. It is clear that the two sides will not stop.”

The U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine-Hennis Plasschaert, said Friday’s strike in a densely populated area of Beirut’s southern suburbs was part of “an extremely dangerous cycle of violence with devastating consequences. This must stop now.”

The strike marked the second time in less than two months that Israel has targeted a leading Hezbollah military commander in Beirut. In July, an Israeli airstrike killed Faud Shukr, the group’s top military commander.

Aqil had a $7-million bounty on his head from the United States over his link to the deadly bombing of Marines in Lebanon in 1983, according to the U.S. State Department website.

The Israeli military said Aqil had been head of Hezbollah operations since 2004 and was responsible for a plan to launch a raid on northern Israel, similar to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 that triggered the war in Gaza.

“The Hezbollah commanders we eliminated today had been planning their ‘October 7th’ on the northern border for years,” Israeli army chief General Herzi Halevi said.

“We reached them, and we will reach anyone who threatens the security of Israel’s citizens.”
Click here to watch our video of the week: