John Jefferson
The Israel Defense Forces killed the head of Hezbollah’s military operations, Ibrahim Aqil, in a Friday airstrike in Lebanon. According to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, Israel’s strikes have killed 14 people and injured 66 others in the Dahiyeh area.
Aqil, who was also the acting commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, was allegedly leading a planned operation to invade the Israeli region of Galilee ahead of the strike. The State Department had a $7 million bounty on Aqil’s head, due to his role in the 1983 Beirut bombings, which killed over 300 people including over 200 U.S. servicemen.
Hezbollah has confirmed Aqil’s death since the Israeli strike in an effusive statement about his legacy. “Today the senior commander Ibrahim Aqil has joined the procession of martyrs after a blessed life full of struggle, work, wounds, sacrifices, challenges, accomplishments and victories,” Hezbollah’s statement read. “It was fitting for him to attain this divine honor.”
The strike follows on the heels of Israel’s detonation of pagers Lebanon on Tuesday, which killed 12 people, including two children, as well as the subsequent detonation of walkie-talkies on Wednesday, killing a further 25.
Iran’s representative to the UN, Saeid Irvani, told the UN Security Council that the attacks constitute “crimes against humanity” for which Israel “bears full responsibility.”
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