Hezbollah acknowledged Saturday that an Israeli airstrike a day earlier had killed two of its most senior commanders and 14 other members of the terror group who were meeting in the basement of a Beirut residential building. The devastating strike was a further blow to the Iranian proxy and brought the sides closer to a full-scale war.
Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said the overall toll from the strike had risen to 31, including three children and several women. Abiad said emergency services worked “through the night” to recover dead and wounded from the debris, adding that the “residential building collapsed on top of occupants” after the Israeli attack.
Israel had said that the strike targeted Ibrahim Aqil, who was the head of Hezbollah’s military operations, the acting commander of the terror group’s elite Radwan Force, and was overseeing a planned operation to invade the Galilee.
Aqil’s body was recovered overnight and Hezbollah announced his death, saying “one of its great leaders” was killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” the phrase it uses to refer to fighters killed by Israel.
Also killed was Ahmed Wahbi. Hezbollah said he was the head of the terror group’s “central training unit,” and was previously a top commander in the elite Radwan Force, heading their fighting against Israel until the beginning of this year. Like other Hezbollah officers, Wahabi was also involved in fighting for the Assad regime in Syria during the civil war.
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