Hezbollah confirms death of Radwan special forces commander Ibrahim Aqil

Hezbollah’s leadership confirmed the death of Ibrahim Aqil (“Haj Abdul Qader”), the terrorist organization’s special operations commander, in an IDF airstrike on a target in Dahiya, south of Beirut.

The deaths of the following have also been confirmed: the commander of the military operations of the Radwan special forces, Ahmad Mahmoud Wahbi (“Hajj Abu Hussein Samir”), the commander of the Radwan special forces, Abdullah Abbas Hijazi (“Bilal”), the commanders of the Hezbollah militants, Samer Abd al-Halim Halawi (“Hamza al-Gharbi”), Hussein Ali Mohsen Ghandour (“Nidal”), Mahmoud Yassin Hamad (“Fajr”), Hassan Hussein Madi (“Abu Hadi Maidun”), Muhammad Ahmad Redu (“Abu Ali Ninebiyyah”), Muhammad Qasim al-Attar (“Abu Yasser al-Attar”), Ahmad Samir Dib (“Jihad”), Arif Ahmad Ar-Raz (“Siraj”), Hassan Ali Hussein (“Abu Sajid”).

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said at least 17 people were killed in the strike, including at least 12 senior militant commanders, according to Hezbollah reports. About 60 were wounded.

According to the Qatari television channel Al Jazeera, at least 20 people were present at the meeting of the Radwan special forces commanders with the head of the Hezbollah special operations department, Ibrahim Aqil. It is known that other Radwan commanders were among those killed in the attack.

As IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari reported earlier, the meeting during which Ibrahim Akil and the Radwan commanders were attacked took place in an underground bunker located in the center of a residential area of ​​Beirut.

According to Israeli intelligence, Akil served as commander of the Radwan special forces unit and was the architect of the “plan to seize Galilee.”

The destroyed terrorists were preparing a plan to seize Galilee, according to which Hezbollah was going to carry out a massive attack on northern Israeli settlements, capture them and kill civilians, repeating the massacre carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

Ibrahim Aqil began his “career” in Hezbollah in the 1980s, and was also a member of the Islamic Jihad, taking part in several terrorist attacks against civilians and international organizations in various countries. Since 2004, he has served as the curator of the Hezbollah operations department, planning sabotage, attacks, shelling, etc. He was the commander of the elite “Raduan” unit, whose goal was to seize settlements in Galilee, killing soldiers and civilians. Akil is responsible for the 2019 shelling of Avivim, the 2023 Megiddo Junction attack, and the attempted infiltration of Hezbollah terrorists into Israeli territory during the Iron Swords War. Akil is also known for his involvement in the 1983 attacks on the US Embassy in Beirut (63 killed) and the American and French barracks in Beirut (307 killed).

In 2019, the United States added Ibrahim Aqil to its terrorist list, and in 2023, the US State Department announced that it would pay $7 million for information on the terrorist’s location.

There are currently no changes to the Home Front Command’s instructions. However, the IDF Spokesperson’s Office reminds that it is vigilantly monitoring the situation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has postponed his planned flight to the United States by a day. Additional delays to the prime minister’s visit to the United States are possible.