Israel Raid on Lebanon, Eliminating Chief of Hezbollah’s Elite Forces and 10 Other Leaders: "They were preparing another October 7th"

Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah commander killed in Beirut by the Israeli army, was one of the most important leaders of the Iranian-backed Lebanese armed group. Also known as Tahsin and survived multiple attacks, Ibrahim Aqil was a Hezbollah veteranhead of the Radwan special forces unit engaged in the front lines of the war against Israel in southern Lebanon. For the Jewish state and the United States he was a “terrorist”. Washington had placed a $7 million bounty on him for alleged involvement in attacks attributed to Hezbollah against the American embassy in Beirut in April 1983. Since the 1980s, when Hezbollah was founded with the decisive support of the then newly formed revolutionary Iran, Aqil was a key member of the first cells of the anti-Israeli Lebanese armed party.In late July, Israel killed another member of Hezbollah’s Jihad Council, Fuad Shukr, in another airstrike on a building in Dahiya, a southern suburb of Beirut. Former U.S. officials described Shukr, like Aqil, as one of Hezbollah’s top military leaders and a confidant of Hassan Nasrallah.

The Israeli military, however, does not aim to increase tensions in the region after carrying out an airstrike in Beirut that killed a top Hezbollah commander. “We are not aiming for a generalized escalation in the region. We are operating in line with the defined objectives of the war and will continue to do so,” said IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. Al-Jazeera reported from a Lebanese security source that the Israeli attack in Beirut’s Dahieh district was aimed at a meeting of the Radwan Force. According to the report, more than 20 people were present at the meeting, which took place two floors underground. The United States confirmed that it was not informed in advance of Israel’s plan to target a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said. “I’m not aware of any advance warning of those attacks,” Kirby said, but that “is not atypical.”

Israel’s attack on Lebanon

Twelve people were killed in an Israeli raid in the southern suburbs of Beirut, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, which also said 66 were injured, “nine of whom are in critical condition.” Israel says it has eliminated a dozen Hezbollah commanders, including Ibrahim Aqil.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib told the UN Security Council that Israel must be held accountable for the “incomprehensible” attacks that killed Lebanese civilians. “No one in this world is safe after the electronic attacks that were carried out recently in Lebanon. These were unfathomable attacks. They caused the injury of thousands of innocent civilians, including children, women and the elderly,” Bouhabib continued. “If this terrorist attack is not condemned by your Council, and if you do not blacklist the perpetrator, if you do not discourage him, condemn him and force him to stop these attacks, the credibility of this Council, of international law and of human rights law will be at stake. Accepting what happened is tantamount to opening Pandora’s box.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry also condemned the Israeli airstrike. “The Zionist regime’s brutal and ferocious airstrike on Beirut is a serious violation of international law and regulations, as well as a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and national security,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement.