Israel has claimed responsibility for a targeted strike in southern Beirut on Tuesday night. The strike was aimed at the Hezbollah commander responsible for the deaths of 12 children and teenagers in an Israeli community in Golan Heights over the weekend.
Several news outlets, including CNN and The New York Times said they had confirmed that Hezbollah commander Fu’ad Shukr was killed in the strike.
CNN reported that the Israel Defense Forces targeted Fu’ad Shukr, a Hezbollah commander who is “responsible for the murder of the children in Majdal Shams and the killing of numerous additional Israeli civilians” over the weekend.
According to CNN, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant posted on X just minutes after Israel took responsibility for the strike. He said, “Hezbollah crossed the red line.”
CNN reported that the strike has triggered Western concerns that Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah could escalate into a regional war.
According to The New York Times, Lebanon’s health minister, Firass Abiad said that at least three people were killed and several others injured during the strike.
The Lebanese prime minister released a statement saying the attack in Beirut was “a criminal act,” per CNN.
Ali Ammar, a member of parliament in Lebanon and a Hezbollah official said, “The enemy knows that the resistance will not be quiet about an assault like this. As our people have become accustomed, this blood will not have been shed in vain,” per CNN.
Fu’ad Shukr believed to have played a role in killing U.S. Marines in 1983 bombing
The U.S had offered a $5 million dollar reward for any information regarding the Hezbollah commander targeted and killed by Israelis during Tuesday night’s strike. According to CNN, the Department of Rewards and Justice were looking for information on Shukr, also referred to as Hajj Mohsin. Shukr played a crucial role in Hezbollah’s military operations and served within the Jihad Council, making Shukr part of the inner circle of Hezbollah’s highest military regime.
“The Hezbollah commander ‘played a central role in the October 23, 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine Corps Barracks in Beirut which killed 241 U.S. military personnel and wounded 128 others,’” CNN reported.
“In September 2019, the State Department designated him a ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to Executive Order 13224,’ more than four years after the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Shukr and two other Hezbollah leaders,” per CNN.
