The city has been on edge for days ahead of an anticipated Israeli attack in retaliation in Majdal Shams, where Israel and the United States have blamed Hezbollah for the attack.
By GADI ZAIG, REUTERS, JERUSALEM POST STAFF, DARCIE GRUNBLATTJULY 30, 2024 19:50Updated: JULY 31, 2024 01:08
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Israeli Air Force fighter jets killed Hezbollah’s most senior military commander and the head of its Strategic Unit, Fuad Shukr ‘Sayyid Muhsan’, in the area of Beirut Tuesday afternoon.
Shukr is a Hezbollah commander who was responsible for the strike on Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights a few days earlier, which killed 12 Israeli Druze youth.
The Hezbollah official had a $5 million bounty “on his head,” according to the United States Rewards for Justice.
Shukr was Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s military adviser and has been active in the terrorist organization for 30 years, where he was the head of the terrorist group’s operations room, three senior security sources told Reuters. Shukar also goes by the names “Hajj Mohsen” and “Muhsin Shukr.”
Fuad was responsible for the majority of Hezbollah’s most advanced weaponry, including precise-guided missiles, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, long-range rockets, and UAVs, the IDF reported. He was responsible for building Hezbollah forces and planning and executing terror attacks against the State of Israel.
Shukr was sanctioned by the United States in 2015.
Fuad joined Hezbollah in 1985 and has held several senior positions within the terrorist organization. He was also a member of the Jihad Council, Hezbollah’s most senior military forum.
In the 1990s, Fuad orchestrated numerous attacks against the IDF and the South Lebanon Army. In 2000, he was directly involved in the abduction of the bodies of three IDF soldiers: St.-Sgt. Benyamin Avraham, St.-Sgt. Adi Avitan, and St.-Sgt. Omar Sawaid. They were killed by Hezbollah terrorists while patrolling the security fence adjacent to Har Dov.
Since then, Fuad has planned and directed numerous terror attacks against innocent civilians.
Directly after the strike, a loud blast was heard, and a plume of smoke could be seen rising above the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital as a result of the strike, a stronghold of the Lebanese terrorist group.
Two people were killed in the attack, Saudi news source Al-Hadath reported.
The city has been on edge for days ahead of an anticipated Israeli attack in retaliation in Majdal Shams, where Israel and the United States have blamed Hezbollah for the attack. Hezbollah has denied responsibility.
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Casualties in strike
A correspondent for Al-Mayadeen, a news source affiliated with Hezbollah, said that the strike in the city was in a densely populated area and that there were about 10 wounded – not clarifying if those wounded were civilians or terrorists. State media, on the other hand, said that one woman was killed and seven people were wounded.
The correspondent also claimed that the strike was at a residential building adjacent to the Bahman Hospital.
Lebanon’s state-run national news agency said the strike targeted the area around Hezbollah’s Shura Council in the Haret Hreik neighborhood of the capital.
Reactions to the strike
Commenting on the Beirut strike, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant wrote on X, formerly Twitter, stating that “Hezbollah crossed the red line.”
Upon confirmation of the death of Shukr, Gallant wrote on X, “Fuad Shukr ‘Sayyid’ Muhsan 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.”
He also thanked the IDF, its commanders, intelligence personnel, and the Israel Air Force. “Your capabilities not only ensure our security but also bring us great pride. You enable us to stand strong in facing our enemies and to ensure the continuity of our people.”
The US State Department said on Tuesday that the United States will continue pursuing diplomacy to avert an escalation of the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah.
“We’re continuing to work toward a diplomatic resolution that would allow Israeli and Lebanese civilians to return to their homes and live in peace and security. We certainly want to avoid any kind of escalation,” State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told a briefing.
He reiterated that US support for Israel remained “ironclad” as the Jewish state confronts threats from Iran and its “malign proxy groups” like Hezbollah.
“Israel has every right to defend itself” and “certainly faces threats like no other country does in that region of the world,” he said.
UN Special Coordinator Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert expressed concern late on Tuesday over “tonight’s strike, claimed by Israel, in the densely populated southern suburb of Beirut,” which led to multiple civilian casualties.
“There is no such thing as a military solution,” she said in a statement calling on both Israel and Lebanon to explore all diplomatic avenues to return to the cessation of hostilities and recommit to United Nations resolution 1701.
Hennis-Plasschaert stated that she is in close contact with key interlocutors and urged for calm to prevail amidst the escalating tensions.
Earlier on Tuesday, Hezbollah said it fired at Israeli warplanes that broke the sound barrier in Lebanese airspace, adding that it forced the warplanes to turn back.