Body of Nasrallah’s right-hand man said found nearly 24 hours after attack; Iran-backed terror group’s leader set to make speech at Shukr’s funeral, as terror group vows revenge
By REUTERS and TOI STAFFToday, 11:05 pm
Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah’s most senior military commander who was in an Israeli strike on Beirut on July 30, 2024, is seen with Hassan Nasrallah (right) in an undated photo. (Hezbollah media office)
Lebanon’s Hezbollah confirmed on Wednesday that senior commander Fuad Shukr was killed in an Israeli strike on the outskirts of Beirut, making him the most senior figure from the group to be killed in nearly 10 months of conflict with Israel.
Shukr’s body was found under the rubble on Wednesday evening, two Lebanese security sources said, nearly 24 hours after the strike. The Israel Defense Force announced late Tuesday that it had killed Shukr.
Hezbollah said that its secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, would speak on Thursday on the occasion of Shukr’s funeral, amid expectation of potential retaliation by the terror group that world leaders fear could spark a wider war.
The Tuesday strike hit Hezbollah’s stronghold in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital at dusk.
It came after a Hezbollah rocket strike Saturday killed 12 children in a soccer field in the Druze village of Majdal Shams, in the Golan Heights.
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Hezbollah has been attacking northern Israel on a daily basis since October 8 in support of Hamas in Gaza. Northern communities have been largely evacuated since then, while Israel has repeatedly warned it could be forced to launch a war against Hezbollah if it does not halt its attacks and withdraw from the border.
A memorial stands in the middle of a soccer field where 12 Druze children were killed the day before in a Hezbollah rocket strike, in the Golan Heights village of Majdal Shams, July 28, 2024. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)
The strike on Beirut happened hours before the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the early hours of Wednesday in Iran, in a development that has further fanned fears of wider regional escalation. Iran and Hamas blamed Israel.
Shukr was an adviser to Nasrallah, according to Hezbollah sources and the Israeli military’s announcement of his killing. At least two women and two children were also killed, medical and security sources said.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Shukr “has the blood of many Israelis on his hands… 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.”
Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah’s most senior military commander who was in an Israeli strike on Beirut on July 30, 2024, is seen with Hassan Nasrallah (right) in an undated photo. (Hezbollah media office)
The attack appeared to have shorn off the top corner of a multi-story building and scattered bits of charred debris onto the surrounding buildings and streets.
Lebanese ministers and lawmakers visited the scene on Wednesday. Speaking from the ruins, Hezbollah parliamentarian Ali Ammar condemned the strike as well as the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran. Israel has made no comment on Haniyeh’s assassination.
“This enemy demands war and we are up for it, God willing, we are up for it,” Ammar said.
Lebanese civil defense check the area in the aftermath of an Israeli military strike on a building in a southern suburb of Beirut, July 31, 2024. (Anwar Amro / AFP)
Lebanon’s cabinet held an emergency meeting on Wednesday morning to discuss the strike on Beirut, and Information Minister Ziad Makary issued a statement read to reporters.
Makary condemned the strike and said retaliation by Hezbollah was anticipated but that the government was worried the situation could “spiral.”
“Lebanon does not want war,” he said, adding that the government would engage in diplomatic efforts to calm tensions.
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