Israel targets Hezbollah commander in Beirut after attack on Golan Heights
The Israeli army carried out a targeted strike on the commander responsible for the killing of children in Majdal Shams and numerous other Israeli civilians, according to a statement from the Israeli military on Tuesday. At least 12 children and teenagers were killed on Saturday when a rocket fired from Lebanon hit a soccer field in the village on the Golan Heights, which Israel has annexed.
Israel and its ally the United States blame the Iran-backed and -armed Lebanese Hezbollah militia for the deadly attack, which the group denies. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Monday of a "hard" response.
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 the group had "crossed the red line".
The Lebanese Health Ministry initially reported one female civilian killed and 68 civilians injured, five seriously. An AFP photographer at the scene reported that the top floor of an eight-story building was hit. Ambulances were reportedly on their way to the scene.
Hezbollah sources said two people were killed. The attack near an important Hezbollah headquarters targeted a "leading commander" of the influential Shia militia in Lebanon. AFP later learned from Hezbollah sources that the high-ranking commander targeted was Fuad Shukr, who plays "a leading role in Hezbollah's operations against Israel from southern Lebanon". However, he "escaped the Israeli strike".
The US State Department describes Shukr as a "high-ranking military commander of the group's forces in southern Lebanon" who played "a key role in recent military operations by Hezbollah in Syria". US officials say Shukr 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 Shukr and another Hezbollah commander in 2017.
Lebanese Prime Minister Mikati condemned the Israeli attack as a "criminal act" that is part of a "series of aggressive operations in which civilians are killed in clear and explicit violation of international law". The spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Nasser Kanani, described the Israeli attack as a "malicious and criminal action". The Russian Foreign Ministry described the Israeli attack as a "gross violation of international law", according to state news agencies.
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, allied with Hamas, has been firing nearly daily rockets into Israel. Israel responds with counterattacks in southern Lebanon. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated on both sides.
According to Israeli reports, 22 soldiers and 25 civilians have been killed on the Israeli side so far. In Lebanon, 531 people have been killed, most of them militant fighters, according to an AFP count. However, more than 100 civilians are also among the dead.
On Tuesday, there were renewed attacks by Hezbollah on civilians. In the Kibbutz Hagoshrim, a 30-year-old man was fatally injured by rocket shrapnel. According to Israeli reports, the attack originated from Lebanon.
Earlier, the Israeli army reported that they had killed a Hezbollah fighter in overnight attacks on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. They also claimed to have hit "a Hezbollah weapons depot, terrorist infrastructure, military facilities, and a rocket launcher in southern Lebanon."
The Israeli military aimed to apprehend the perpetrator responsible for the loss of innocent lives, specifically children, in Majdal Shams and other civilian casualties in Israel. Following the tragic incident where 12 children and teenagers were killed in a soccer field attack in Majdal Shams, there have been calls for a strong response from Israel and its allies.
