Beirut: Israel's military on Tuesday claimed to kill a senior Hezbollah commander it had targeted in a rare strike on Beirut that further threatened a wider war in the Middle East, in retaliation for a cross-border attack that killed 12 youngsters at the Golan Heights. Israel blames the Hezbollah militant group, which has denied any role in the Golan Heights attack.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the strike killed Fuad Shukr, who "has the blood of many Israelis on his hands. Tonight, we have shown that the blood of our people has a price, and that there is no place out of reach for our forces to this end." Notably, Fuad Shukr was sanctioned by the United States in 2015.
A senior security source from another country in the region told news agency Reuters that Shukr had died of wounds sustained in the strike. The Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut also killed three civilians including two children, according to medical and security sources. As many as 74 people were injured, as per Lebanon's media.
Israel's attack sets off diplomatic flurry
According to a witness, a loud blast was heard and a plume of smoke could be seen rising above Beirut's southern suburbs - a stronghold of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group - on Tuesday. There was no immediate response from Hezbollah. Charred debris littered the streets below, where crowds gathered to chant in support of the Hezbollah leader.
Hezbollah has denied involvement in the Golan attack, but said the group fired rockets at a military target in the Golan Heights. The killing of the youths prompted a high-level Western diplomatic flurry to avert a major escalation that could inflame the wider Middle East. UN Special Coordinator Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert called for calm to prevail amid escalating tensions and called on Israel and Lebanon to explore all diplomatic avenues to end hostilities.
Tuesday's strike on Beirut prompted widespread condemnation by Lebanese officials and Hezbollah's regional allies including Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen, Syria and Iran, which backs all three of the groups. Meanwhile, the White House, which also attributed Saturday's attack to Hezbollah, reiterated its commitment to Israel's security against "all Iran-backed threats including Hezbollah" and said it was working on a diplomatic solution.
It remains unclear whether the recent confrontation would widen into a regional war. Israeli media says the military considered the Beirut strike as concluding the response to the Golan Heights attack, depending on the Hezbollah reaction. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) also issued no new instructions for civil defence in the country, another indication that it did not plan further strikes immediately and may seek to avert an all-out war.
Who is Fuad Shukr?
Fuad Shukr, also known as Muhsin Shukr, is believed to be an important aide of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, his adviser for wartime operations and in charge of Saturday's attack. He was also accused by the United States of orchestrating the 1983 bombing in Beirut that killed 241 American servicemen.
Israel has accused Shukr of directing Hezbollah's attacks since October 8, after the Israel-Hamas war erupted. If Israel's claim proves true, the 62-year-old Shukr would be the most senior Hezbollah commander to be killed since 2016, when Mustafa Badreddine, the group's military commander in Syria, died in an explosion in the Syrian capital of Damascus.
Little is known about Shukr, who has been operating secretively to direct Hezbollah's forces in southern Lebanon. The US State Department had offered a $5 million reward for information about him. He joined Hezbollah when the group was founded following the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon that forced the Palestine Liberation Organization to leave Lebanon.
The bombing near the Beirut International Airport on October 23, 1983, remains the deadliest single-day attack on Marines since the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. A near-simultaneous attack on French forces killed 58 paratroopers. The US Treasury Department listed Shukr as a “specially designated national” on July 21, 2015, for acting for or on behalf of Hezbollah.
(with inputs from agencies)
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