BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Askume) – Israel killed a senior Hezbollah commander and other senior Lebanese movement figures in air strikes in Beirut on Friday and vowed to step up new military operations to secure areas around the Lebanese border.
Israeli military and Lebanese security sources said Ibrahim Aqeel and other senior members of Hezbollah’s elite forces were killed in the airstrike, escalating a years-long conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Hezbollah confirmed Aqil’s death in a statement after midnight, calling him “one of its top leaders” but did not provide details about the cause of his death.
In a later statement summarizing Aqeel’s biography, Hezbollah said he was killed in Dahiya, a suburb south of Beirut, in what it called “a treacherous assassination by Israel”.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said at least 14 people were killed in the attack, and the death toll was expected to rise as rescue teams worked through the night. It was unclear whether Aqil and other Hezbollah commanders were among the dead.
Earlier, the ministry had said at least 66 people were injured, nine of them seriously.
Another security source said at least six Hezbollah commanders were killed when several missiles hit the open side of the building’s garage. The explosion occurred at the base of the building where Aguirre was meeting with other commanders.
Witnesses said they heard a loud roar and several explosions during the attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a brief statement published by Israeli media that Israel’s goals are clear and its actions speak for themselves.
Defense Minister Yoav Galant said this week that Israel was beginning a new phase of the war on its northern border, tweeting: “This new phase of action will continue until our goal is achieved: the safe return of Israelis.
Thousands of people on both sides of the Israeli-Lebanese border have been driven from their homes since Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on Israel in October to express sympathy for Palestinians fighting Israel’s nearly year-long war with Hamas in Gaza.
Israel, which last launched a full-scale war against Hezbollah 18 years ago, said it would use force if necessary to ensure the return of its citizens to northern Israel.
The Israeli military described Aqeel as the acting commander of Radwan’s special forces and said he and about 10 other senior commanders were killed in the fighting. Lebanese sources told Askume that Aqeel is a member of Hezbollah’s supreme military council.
The attack was another setback for Hezbollah after two days of attacks in which pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members exploded, killing 37 people and wounding thousands. The attacks are believed to have been carried out by Israel, but Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.
Local broadcasters showed crowds of people gathering near the scene, saying they were searching for missing people, mostly children. Drones were still flying over Beirut’s southern suburbs hours after the attack.
“We are not afraid, but we need a solution. We cannot let this country continue like this anymore,” Beirut resident Alain Feghali told Askume in an interview. “It is clear that neither side will stop.”
Jean-Henis Presshat, the UN special coordinator in Lebanon, said Friday’s attack in a densely populated area on the southern outskirts of Beirut was “part of an extremely dangerous cycle of violence with devastating consequences. It must stop now.”
The attack is the second Israeli attack targeting a prominent Hezbollah military commander in Beirut in less than two months. In July, the organization’s top military commander, Fuad Shukr, was killed in an Israeli airstrike .
The United States has offered a $7 million reward to Aguirre for his role in the 1983 Lebanese Marine Corps bombing, according to the US State Department website.
The Israeli military said Aqeel had been head of Hezbollah operations since 2004 and was responsible for planning attacks in northern Israel similar to the October 7 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that sparked the Gaza War .
“The Hezbollah commander we killed today had been planning ‘October 7’ on the northern border for years,” Israeli army chief Gen. Hertz Halevi said.
“We have reached out to them, and we will reach out to anyone who poses a threat to the safety of Israeli citizens.”
Debris and burnt vehicles
The Beirut attack triggered alarm in northern Israel, with Israeli media reporting heavy rocket fire, according to the Israeli military.
Hezbollah said it fired two Katyusha rockets at Israel’s main intelligence headquarters in northern Israel, which was “responsible for the killing.”
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said he was unaware of any information provided by Israel to the United States before the Beirut attack. He said Americans were strongly urged not to travel to Lebanon or leave if they were there.
However, he also said, “War is not inevitable… We will continue to make every effort to prevent war.”
The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah over the war in Gaza has intensified this week.
On Thursday night Israeli forces launched the most intense air strikes on southern Lebanon since the conflict began nearly a year ago.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is the most serious since the 2006 war. Thousands of people on both sides of the border had to leave their homes.
While the conflict has been largely confined to border areas or border regions, this week’s escalation has raised concerns that it could become more widespread and intense.
