Israeli airstrike targets Hezbollah leaders in Beirut including a top commander
Shafaq News/ On Friday, the Israeli military conducted an airstrike targeting the densely populated Al-Kaem area of Al-Jamous in Beirut's southern suburbs, killing at least 12.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health reported that the attack resulted in 12 fatalities and injured 66 others. The Lebanese Civil Defense confirmed that two buildings collapsed in the assault.
Israeli media outlets indicated that the strike was targeting Ibrahim Aqil, the Commander of Hezbollah's Special Operations Department and a key member of the group’s Jihad Council. This council was previously led by Fuad Shukur, who was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike last July.
Reports suggest the airstrike occurred during a meeting of Hezbollah’s Al-Radwan leaders and officials responsible for the Galilee area.
A Lebanese security source told Al-Jazeera that the Israeli attack targeted security and military officials within Hezbollah including Aqil. Axios also cited sources indicating that Aqil was present at the meeting.
Maariv said that Aqil was injured in the Israeli telecommunication attacks last Tuesday and Wednesday that killed 32 and wounded over 3,400 people in the suburbs of Beirut, southern Lebanon, and the Bekaa Valley.
Who Is Ibrahim Aqil?
The US government is offering a reward of up to $7 million for information leading to the capture of senior Hezbollah leader Ibrahim Aqil, also known as Tahsin.
Aqil is a prominent figure within Hezbollah’s highest military body, the Jihad Council, which has been linked to several high-profile “terrorist” activities over the decades, according to the Rewards for Justice website, affiliated with the US government.
“During the 1980s, Aqil was a principal member of Hizballah’s terrorist cell the Islamic Jihad Organization, which claimed responsibility for the bombings of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut in April 1983, which killed 63 people, and the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in October 1983, which killed 241 U.S. personnel.” The Website says.
“Also in the 1980s, Aqil directed the taking of American and German hostages in Lebanon and held them there.”
On July 21, 2015, the US Department of the Treasury designated Aqil under Executive Order 13582 for his role in acting on behalf of Hezbollah. Later, on September 10, 2019, the US Department of State designated him as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224, as amended.
Hezbollah Leadership Under Threat
Since October 7, Israel has targeted numerous high-ranking Hezbollah officials, including Fuad Shukr, who was killed in an airstrike on July 30, 2024. Shukr was a close aide to Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Mohammed Nasser, responsible for operations at the frontier, was killed in a separate airstrike on July 3, 2024, while Taleb Abdallah was killed on June 12, 2024, during a strike on a command and control center in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah's Continued Operations
Despite the ongoing Israeli escalation, Sayyed Nasrallah reaffirmed in a Thursday speech that the group's operations against Israel would persist until a ceasefire is achieved in Gaza.
Israeli Channel 13 reported that more than 200 rockets have been launched from Lebanon since the morning, coinciding with the Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburb.
According to statements from Hezbollah, the group has targeted Israeli military positions, including bombings of the air control unit and air operations department at the Meron base, as well as strikes on the Northern Corps headquarters at the Ein Zeitim military base and the main intelligence headquarters at the Mishar base.
