The Hezbollah Commanders Killed in Israeli Strikes

Hezbollah commanders killed in recent strikes. AFP/File
Hezbollah commanders killed in recent strikes. AFP/File
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The Hezbollah Commanders Killed in Israeli Strikes

Hezbollah commanders killed in recent strikes. AFP/File
Hezbollah commanders killed in recent strikes. AFP/File

Israel has killed several top Hezbollah commanders in a series of targeted strikes on the Iran-backed movement's stronghold in Beirut.
Here is what we know about the slain commanders.
Shukr: right-hand man
A strike on July 30 killed Fuad Shukr, the group's top military commander and one of Israel's most high-profile targets.
Shukr, who was in his early 60s, played a key role in cross-border clashes with Israeli forces, according to a source close to Hezbollah.
The two sides have traded near-daily fire across the frontier since Hezbollah ally Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel.
Shukr helped found Hezbollah during Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war and became a key adviser to its chief, Hassan Nasrallah.
Shukr was Hezbollah's most senior military commander, and Nasrallah said he had been in daily contact with him since October.
Israel blamed Shukr for a rocket attack in July on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights that killed 12 children in a Druze Arab town. Hezbollah has denied responsibility.
In 2017, the US Treasury offered a $5 million reward for information on Shukr, saying he had "a central role" in the deadly 1983 bombing of the US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut.
Aqil: US bounty
A strike on September 20 killed Ibrahim Aqil, head of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force, along with 15 other commanders.
According to Lebanese officials, the attack killed a total of 55 people, many of them civilians.
A source close to Hezbollah described Aqil as the second-in-command in the group's forces after Shukr.
The Radwan Force is Hezbollah's most formidable offensive unit and its fighters are trained in cross-border infiltration, a source close to the group told AFP.
The United States said Aqil was a member of Hezbollah's Jihad Council, the movement's highest military body.
The US Treasury said he was a "principal member" of the Islamic Jihad Organization -- a Hezbollah-linked group behind the 1983 bombing of the US embassy in Beirut that killed 63 people and an attack on US Marine Corps in the Lebanese capital the same year that killed 241 American soldiers.
Kobeissi: missiles expert
On September 25, a strike killed Ibrahim Mohammed Kobeissi, who commanded several military units including a guided missiles unit.
"Kobeissi was an important source of knowledge in the field of missiles and had close ties with senior Hezbollah military leaders," the Israeli military said.
Kobeissi joined Hezbollah in 1982 and rose through the ranks of the group's forces.
One of the units he led was tasked with manning operations in part of the south of Lebanon, which borders Israel.
Srur: drone chief
A strike on September 26 killed Mohammed Srur, the head of Hezbollah's drone unit since 2020.
Srur studied mathematics and was among a number of top advisers sent by Hezbollah to Yemen to train the country's Houthi group, who are also backed by Iran, a source close to Hezbollah said.
He had also played a key role in Hezbollah's intervention since 2013 in Syria's civil war in support of President Bashar al-Assad's government.
Hezbollah will hold a funeral ceremony for Srur on Friday.
Other commanders killed in recent strikes include Wissam Tawil and Mohammed Naameh Nasser.



Netanyahu: Israel to Continue Ceasefire Discussions for Lebanon

People check the destruction following an overnight Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese village of Shebaa near along the border between the two countries, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
People check the destruction following an overnight Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese village of Shebaa near along the border between the two countries, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
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Netanyahu: Israel to Continue Ceasefire Discussions for Lebanon

People check the destruction following an overnight Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese village of Shebaa near along the border between the two countries, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
People check the destruction following an overnight Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese village of Shebaa near along the border between the two countries, on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)

Israel will continue to discuss ceasefire proposals for Lebanon in the days ahead, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday.

Israel's foreign minister on Thursday rejected global calls for a ceasefire with the Iran-backed Hezbollah and pressed ahead with airstrikes that have killed hundreds in Lebanon and heightened fears of a regional war.

An Israeli strike on Friday killed nine members of a family, including four children, in the Lebanese border town of Shebaa, mayor Mohammad Saab told Reuters.

Israeli attacks have killed an estimated 700 people to date, including at least 150 women and children.

Hezbollah said it had fired rockets into Israel on Friday at Kiryat Ata near the city of Haifa some 30 km from the border, and the city of Tiberias, declaring the attacks a response to Israel strikes on villages, cities and civilians.

Though Israeli air defenses have shot down many of Hezbollah's rockets, limiting the damage they've done, the group's attacks have shut down normal life across much of northern Israel as more areas fall into its crosshairs.

The Israeli military said it had intercepted four unmanned aircraft that crossed from Lebanese territory into the maritime space off the coast of Rosh Hanikra at the Lebanese border.

The United States and France proposed an immediate 21-day truce on Wednesday, and said negotiations continued, including on the sidelines of a United Nations meeting in New York.

Netanyahu said on Friday that Israeli teams had meetings to discuss the US ceasefire proposals on Thursday and would continue discussions in the days ahead, adding that he appreciated the US efforts.

"Our teams met (Sept. 26) to discuss the US initiative and how we can advance the shared goal of returning people safely to their homes. We will continue those discussions in the coming days," he said in a statement.
On Thursday, after Netanyahu left for New York where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly, his office issued a statement saying the prime minister had ordered Israeli troops to continue fighting “with full force” in Lebanon.

His statement made no reference to the comments of Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who on Thursday rejected ceasefire proposals, or other Israeli politicians who have echoed that position, saying only that there had been "a lot of misreporting around the US-led ceasefire initiative.”

Israeli military vehicles were seen transporting tanks and armored vehicles toward the country’s northern border with Lebanon, and commanders have issued a call-up of reservists.