The Israeli military said a Tuesday attack in Beirut was successful in killing its target, a senior Hezbollah commander who was allegedly responsible for a deadly rocket attack that killed 12 children in Israel’s Golan Heights.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said fighter jets hit an area in Beirut and killed Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah’s most senior military commander and right-hand man to the Lebanese militia group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
Shukr was the chief adviser on military planning operations, according to the IDF, and directed the Hezbollah attack on Saturday that killed 12 children and injured 20 others in the town of Majdal Shams, which is dominated by the Druze ethnic-religious minority group.
On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment on the strike.
But she stressed that the US still hopes it can reach a diplomatic agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, as fears spread that a bigger war in Lebanon is fast approaching.
“We do not believe that all-out war is inevitable and we believe it can be avoided,” she said at a briefing.
Hezbollah did not immediately comment on the IDF’s claims. But Iranian state media outlet Press TV claimed that two people were killed and dozens were injured, but that Shukr was not among the dead.
Shukr led Hezbollah’s Strategic Unit and was responsible for planning the Iranian-backed militia group’s strength and advanced weapons, including drones and precision-guided missiles.
He joined Hezbollah in 1985; planned military attacks in the 1990s against Israel, including the abduction of the bodies of three Israeli soldiers in the 2000s; and became a member of the Jihad Council, Hezbollah’s highest-ranking military forum, the IDF said.
Israel has killed around 300 Hezbollah fighters, including senior officials, in the nearly 10-month conflict linked to the war in Gaza. Israeli attacks have also reached Beirut.
But Shukr’s death would represent the biggest blow to the organization since the conflict erupted on October 8, a day after Iran-backed Hamas invaded southern Israel in a deadly surprise attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced pressure to retaliate after Saturday’s Hezbollah attack on Majdal Shams, especially to show that Israel would defend the Druze. He had promised Hezbollah would pay the price, and his forces staged smaller-scale attacks on Sunday and Monday. It is unclear whether Israel will retaliate again.
Hezbollah has not yet released a public statement on how it would respond to the Israeli attack, but analysts say a major war is becoming more likely as the fighting continues. Even a ceasefire in Gaza is unlikely to prevent an Israeli operation in Lebanon unless Hezbollah agrees to withdraw from the border to a safe enough distance to allow the return of some 80,000 evacuated Israeli civilians.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
