Stephen Kalin, Summer Said and Anat Peled
WSJ, Sept. 20, 2024
“Aqil was one of the most important figures in Hezbollah. He inherited Shukr’s role after his killing this summer, and before that maintained a low profile to avoid being targeted by Israel and the U.S.”
Israel launched another major attack on Hezbollah on Friday, with a strike in the Lebanese capital that killed one of the militant group’s top commanders, as the risks rise of a broader conflict between the longtime adversaries.,The Israeli military said its airstrike had killed Ibrahim Aqil, who it said had run Hezbollah’s operations team and its Radwan special forces, and around 10 other senior commanders who had gathered underground in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Hezbollah confirmed Aqil’s killing, calling him one of its leaders. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported at least 14 dead and 66 wounded, with the toll expected to rise as rescuers search the rubble. The strike represents a significant blow and another huge security failure for a group already struggling to recover from a week of airstrikes across southern Lebanon and covert attacks that caused electronic devices carried by thousands of the militant group’s members to explode virtually simultaneously.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant cited the military’s “targeted action to eliminate the operational elite of Hezbollah,” and vowed that Israel would continue operating until residents can return to their homes in the north, which has been largely evacuated out of fear that Hezbollah could enact a long-threatened plan to invade.
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