Hezbollah: Fuad Shukr Was in Building Targeted by Israeli Strike

People walk on the rubble of a damaged site the day after an Israeli strike, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon July 31, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
People walk on the rubble of a damaged site the day after an Israeli strike, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon July 31, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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Hezbollah: Fuad Shukr Was in Building Targeted by Israeli Strike

People walk on the rubble of a damaged site the day after an Israeli strike, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon July 31, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
People walk on the rubble of a damaged site the day after an Israeli strike, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon July 31, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Lebanon's Hezbollah said early on Wednesday its senior commander Fuad Shukr was in the building in the southern suburbs of Beirut targeted by an Israeli strike, but it did not confirm his fate.
Hezbollah's long-awaited statement on Wednesday said Israel had attacked a residential building in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold for the group, and that "a number of citizens" had been killed and others wounded.
It said Fuad Shukr "was present in this building at the time," but that the group was still waiting for definitive results on his fate.
Israel's military announced late on Tuesday it had killed Shukr, whom it named as Hezbollah's most senior commander and blamed for an attack at the weekend that left a dozen youths dead in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The White House, which previously also attributed Saturday's attack to Hezbollah, reiterated its commitment to Israel's security against "all Iran-backed threats including Hezbollah" and said it was working on a diplomatic solution.
Lebanon's foreign minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, said his government condemned the Israeli strike and planned to file a complaint to the United Nations.
"We were not expecting them to hit Beirut and they hit Beirut," he told Reuters, saying he hoped Hezbollah's response would not trigger an escalation.
"Hopefully any response will be proportionate and will not be more than that, so that this wave of killing, hitting and shelling will stop," he said.

On Wednesday morning, Lebanon's civil defence teams were on the ground in the southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, clearing rubble from the strike, according to a Reuters witness.
Hezbollah set up a security cordon around the area but granted limited access to reporters to film.
The attack appeared to have shorn off the top corner of a multi-storey building and scattered bits of charred debris onto the surroundings buildings and streets.
There were no other residents in sight.

The Israeli strike killed a woman and two children, medical and security sources told Reuters late Tuesday.



Pope, Israeli PM Speak by Phone after Gaza Church Strike

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III visit the Church of the Holy Family which was hit in an Israeli strike on Thursday, in Gaza City July 18, 2025. The Latin patriarchate of Jerusalem/Handout via REUTERS
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III visit the Church of the Holy Family which was hit in an Israeli strike on Thursday, in Gaza City July 18, 2025. The Latin patriarchate of Jerusalem/Handout via REUTERS
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Pope, Israeli PM Speak by Phone after Gaza Church Strike

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III visit the Church of the Holy Family which was hit in an Israeli strike on Thursday, in Gaza City July 18, 2025. The Latin patriarchate of Jerusalem/Handout via REUTERS
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III visit the Church of the Holy Family which was hit in an Israeli strike on Thursday, in Gaza City July 18, 2025. The Latin patriarchate of Jerusalem/Handout via REUTERS

Pope Leo XIV emphasized the importance of protecting places of worship in a call Friday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following Israel's deadly strike on Gaza's only Catholic Church, the Vatican said.

The pontiff also renewed his appeal for negotiations, a ceasefire and the end of the war, while reiterating his concern for the "dramatic humanitarian situation" in the Palestinian territory, it said in a statement, AFP reported.

The Vatican said Netanyahu initiated the call on Friday morning, the day after Israeli fire on the Holy Family Church in Gaza City killed three people and provoked international condemnation.

"During the conversation, the Holy Father renewed his appeal to revive negotiations and reach a ceasefire and the end of the war," the Vatican said in a statement, noting that Leo was at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome.

"He once again expressed his concern for the dramatic humanitarian situation of the population in Gaza, whose heartbreaking toll is borne particularly by children, the elderly and the sick.

"Finally, the Holy Father reiterated the urgency of protecting places of worship and especially the faithful and all people in Palestine and Israel."

Netanyahu has said Israel "deeply regrets" the strike, and blamed a "stray round".

He repeated this regret in the conversation with the pope, which was "friendly", a spokesman for Netanyahu told AFP, adding that the two men agreed to meet soon.