Izrael, vritet komandanti i lartë i Hezbollahut në Bejrut

2024-07-31 07:22:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Izrael, vritet komandanti i lartë i Hezbollahut në Bejrut

Illustrative photo

The Israeli military announced Tuesday evening that it carried out an attack in Beirut targeting a Hezbollah commander it believes was responsible for a rocket attack that killed 12 children and teenagers playing on a soccer field over the weekend in the Golan Heights.

A loud explosion was heard and a plume of smoke was seen rising over the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of Iran-backed Hezbollah militants. A Hezbollah official said several buildings were damaged and authorities said two people were killed.

Hours later, the United States launched a self-defense attack in Iraq, a US official told Reuters news agency, as tensions rise in the Middle East.

Media reports in the Middle East identified the Hezbollah commander as Fuad Shukr, but his fate was not definitively known.

Saudi news source Al-Hadath reported that Fuad Shukri survived the attack. But the Israeli news site "ynet" quoted an Israeli security source as saying, "There is a very high possibility that the Hezbollah official has been eliminated. If he was in the building - he is no longer with us." Fuad Shukri was believed to be the military adviser to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and has long been active in the organization considered a terrorist organization by the United States. He was the head of the operational room of the militant group.

The United States had added his name to the sanctions list in 2015 and he was wanted by the United States for his alleged role in the 1983 bombing of US Marine barracks in Beirut.

The Hezbollah official had a $5 million reward "on his head," according to records from a State Department unit seeking to track down the most wanted terrorists.

Lebanon's state-run news agency said the Israeli strike hit the area near Hezbollah's Shura Council in the capital's Haret Hreik neighborhood.

Israel and the United States have blamed Hezbollah for Saturday's attack on the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, although Hezbollah has denied responsibility.

In an earlier statement to the media, the Israeli military announced that it had carried out "an attack in Beirut against the commander responsible for the killing of children in Majdal Shams and the killing of a number of other Israeli civilians."

Reacting to reports of the Israeli attack, the United States said it does not think war between Hezbollah and Israel is imminent, according to spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.

The Israeli attack was immediately condemned by Iran, which called it a "low-level aggression" by Israel, while the Palestinian militant group Hamas called it a "dangerous escalation". The attack was also condemned by Russia as a "flagrant violation of international law", informs the Reuters agency./ Voa