Israel: Hezbollah commander 'eliminated' in Beirut attack
Fuad Schukr was the commander responsible for the Majdal Shams massacre, in which twelve children were killed after the Hezbollah fired an Iranian Falak-1 rocket directly at a football field in northern Israel on Saturday evening," said Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari.
In the village on the Golan Heights annexed by Israel, at least twelve children and teenagers were killed on Saturday when a rocket fired from Lebanon hit a football field, according to Israeli reports. Israel and its ally the USA blame the Lebanese Hezbollah militia for the deadly attack, which the group denies.
The Israeli army then announced on Tuesday that it had carried out a "targeted attack" on the responsible commander. Israeli Defense Minister Joav Gallant wrote on the online service X shortly after the attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut, considered a Hezbollah stronghold, that Hezbollah had "crossed the red line".
The Lebanese Health Ministry said that preliminary reports indicated that a woman, a girl, and a boy were killed in the Israeli attack, and 74 others were injured.
Israeli military spokesman Hagari said, "Schukr was the right hand of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and his advisor in planning and leading attacks and operations". Hagari described Schukr as "a high-ranking terrorist with the blood of Israelis and many others on his hands".
Since the beginning of the war between Israel and the Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Schukr has been leading Hezbollah's attacks on Israel, the Israeli military said. He was responsible for a large part of Hezbollah's most modern weapons. Schukr "planned and led numerous terrorist attacks against innocent civilians".
The US Department of State described Schukr as a "senior military commander of the forces of the group in southern Lebanon" who "played a key role in the recent military operations of Hezbollah in Syria". According to US reports, Schukr played a central role in a 1983 bombing in Beirut that killed more than 200 US Marines. Washington placed a $5 million (€4.62 million) bounty on Schukr and another Hezbollah commander in 2017.
Sharp criticism of the Israeli attack came from Iran, a supporter of Hezbollah. Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani called it a "vicious and criminal action".
US Vice President Kamala Harris, however, affirmed Israel's right to self-defense. Israel has "the right to defend itself against a terrorist organization, and that's exactly what Hezbollah is," said the likely Democratic presidential candidate. Meanwhile, UN Special Representative for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert expressed concern about the attack, saying there is no military solution to the conflict.
Israeli military spokesman Hagari said that while Israel wants to end the conflict without a larger war with Hezbollah, the Israeli military is prepared for "every scenario".
Since the start of the war between Israel and the radical Islamic Hamas in the Gaza Strip following its unprecedented large-scale attack on Israel on October 7, Hezbollah has been firing nearly daily rockets at Israel. Israel responds with counterattacks in southern Lebanon. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated on both sides.
Joav Gallant strongly condemned the Hezbollah attack on Beirut's southern suburbs, stating that Hezbollah had "crossed the red line." The Israeli Defense Minister issued this statement on the online service X shortly after the Israeli army's "targeted attack" on the responsible commander.
Furthermore, Joav Gallant, the Israeli Defense Minister, praised the Israeli army's response to the Hezbollah attacks, emphasizing their commitment to protecting Israeli citizens against terrorist threats.
