In a back-to-back setback for Iran-backed armed outfit Hezbollah, another top commander of the militant organisation Nabil Qaouk was killed in Israel’s airstrike on Saturday night (September 28) in Lebanon’s capital, the IDF announced, Times of Israel reported. Qaouk was the commander of Hezbollah’s “preventive security unit” and a senior member of the terror group’s central council, the report stated citing IDF. This comes two days after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was taken down in another airstrike on Friday. The Israeli military announces his elimination yesterday.
Israel’s fighter aircrafts struck and killed Qaouk in the Dahiyeh suburb of Beirut, a known Hezbollah stronghold, last night.
The latest killed militant, Qaouk, was considered close to the Hezbollah leadership and was “directly involved in advancing terror attacks against the State of Israel and its citizens, including in recent days”, the military said.
Qaouk had joined the militant outfit in the 1980s and served as a deputy head and later a the head of the southern Lebanon area in the executive council, as well as the deputy head of the executive council, Times of Israel reported.
Netanyahu on Nasrallah's killing
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday (September 28) said that the elimination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was a “necessary condition” for Israel to achieve its war goals. In his first reaction since Israel took down the militant, Netanyahu said that the killings of other militants of the armed outfit “was not enough”, which is why he came to the conclusion that neutralising Nasrallah was also needed.
"Nasrallah was not just another terrorist, he was the terrorist. He was the axis of the axis, the main engine of Iran's axis of evil. He and his people were the architects of the plan to destroy Israel. He was not only operated by Iran, he also frequently operated Iran. Therefore, at the beginning of the week, I came to the conclusion that the powerful blows that the IDF has been landing on Hezbollah in recent days were not enough," Netanyahu said in his first statement post-killing of Nasrallah.
“The elimination of Nasrallah is a necessary condition in achieving the objectives we have set: Returning the residents of the north safely to their homes, and changing the balance of power in the region for years. As long as Nasrallah was alive, he would have quickly rebuilt the capabilities we took from Hezbollah. Therefore, I gave the directive – and Nasrallah is no longer with us,” he added.
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