BEIRUT/JERUSALEM: Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander and different senior figures within the Lebanese motion in an airstrike on Beirut on Friday (Sep 20), vowing to press on with a brand new navy marketing campaign till it is ready to safe the realm across the Lebanese border.
Hezbollah confirmed within the early hours of Saturday that its high navy commander Ibrahim Aqil was killed, calling him “certainly one of its high leaders”, with out offering additional particulars on his killing.
The Israeli navy and a safety supply in Lebanon mentioned Ibrahim Aqil was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut earlier on Friday, together with different senior members of an elite Hezbollah unit within the airstrike, sharply escalating the year-long conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed group.
Aqil, who was needed by america for involvement within the 1983 bombing of the US embassy in Beirut, headed Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Drive.
Lebanon’s well being ministry mentioned no less than 14 folks died and the toll was anticipated to climb as rescue groups labored by way of the night time. It was not instantly identified whether or not the toll included Aqil and the opposite senior Hezbollah commanders.
Earlier, the navy mentioned no less than 66 folks had been injured, 9 of whom had been in vital situation.
A second safety supply mentioned the assault was carried out with a number of missiles that blasted into the opening of a constructing’s storage. The explosion tore into the constructing’s decrease ranges as Aqil met different high commanders inside.
Witnesses reported listening to a loud whistling and a number of other consecutive blasts on the time of the strike.
In a quick assertion carried by Israeli media, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned Israel’s targets had been clear and its actions spoke for themselves.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, who has mentioned this week that Israel is launching a brand new part of struggle on the northern border, posted on X: “The sequence of actions within the new part will proceed till our objective is achieved: the protected return of the residents of the north to their properties.”
