Hamas Threatens Israel After Beirut Attack

Hezbollah ha Second commander killed in yesterday’s Israeli raid on southern Beirut outskirts identified along with Ibrahim Aqil and 12 other key militants of the group. This is Ahmed Wahabi60, who, according to the Party of God, “directed the military operations of the elite al-Radwan unit until early 2024, then assumed responsibility for the central training unit after the death of Wissam Tawil” who was killed in a raid in January.

“It is with great pride that the Islamic resistance presents today one of its great leaders as a martyr on the road to Jerusalem, and pledges with its pure soul to remain faithful to its goals, its hopes and its path until victory,” Hezbollah said in a statement carried by the group’s affiliated al-Manar broadcaster, referring to Aqil’s death, which also confirmed the killing of Wahabi and 12 other prominent militants. The Party of God recalled that Aqil took part in “one of the heroic operations during the confrontation with the Israeli invasion of Beirut in the early 1980s,” a reference to the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon in 1983.

US Envoy: ‘Disagreement with Israel on Escalation’

The United States is not shedding any tears over the killing of Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil, but it reiterates that it disagrees with Israel on escalation and that a war with Lebanon will achieve its goals. “Ibrahim Aqil was responsible for the Beirut embassy bombing 40 years ago. So no one is shedding any tears for him,” McGurk said at the American-Israel Council conference in Washington.

“That said,” he immediately added, “we have disagreements with the Israelis about tactics and how to measure the risk of escalation. It is a very worrying situation. I am very confident that through diplomacy, deterrence and other means we will be able to get out of it.” But then McGurk reiterated the United States’ position: “We do not think that a war in Lebanon is the way to achieve the goal of bringing people back to their homes… We want a diplomatic solution in the north. That is the goal, and that is what we are working towards.”

Hamas: “Israel will pay dearly for Beirut’s madness”

Israel will pay dearly for the “crime” and “madness” committed in Beirut, with yesterday’s raid in which two important Hezbollah commanders – Ibrahim Aqil and Ahmed Wahabi – and other militants of the group were killed. This was announced by Hamas, which yesterday had already condemned “the brutal Zionist aggression”.