Israel was expected to retaliate after the cross-border rocket attack that killed 12 youngsters three days ago that it blamed on the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. In response, an Israeli attack has killed Faud Shukr, the most important aide to Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, his adviser for wartime operations and in charge of Saturday’s attack that killed the 12 children.
A loud blast was heard and a plume of smoke could be seen rising above Beirut‘s southern suburbs – a stronghold of the Iran-backed Hezbollah – at around 7:40 p.m. (1640 GMT).
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the strike killed Fuad Shukr, who “has the blood of many Israelis on his hands. Tonight, we have shown that the blood of our people has a price, and that there is no place out of reach for our forces to this end.”
There was no immediate response from Hezbollah. The group has denied involvement in a rocket strike on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday that killed 12 youth in a football field in the Druze village of Majdal Shams.
Israel‘s military said Shukr was the most important aide to Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, his adviser for wartime operations and in charge of Saturday’s attack.
The Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut also killed three civilians including two children, medical and security sources told Reuters.
Lebanon’s Al Manar TV cited the Lebanese health ministry as reporting 74 people injured along with three killed in the attack around Hezbollah‘s Shura Council, a decision-making body, in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood.
Hezbollah has denied involvement in the Golan attack, but said the group fired rockets at a military target in the Golan Heights. The killing of the youths prompted a high-level Western diplomatic flurry to avert a major escalation that could inflame the wider Middle East.
UN Special Coordinator Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert called for calm to prevail amid escalating tensions and called on Israel and Lebanon to explore all diplomatic avenues to end hostilities.
“There is no such thing as a military solution,” she said in a statement.
Tuesday’s strike on Beirut prompted widespread condemnation by Lebanese officials and Hezbollah‘s regional allies including Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen, Syria and Iran, which backs all three of the groups.
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.
The Israeli military said it had issued no new instructions for civil defence in Israel, a possible indication that Israel did not plan further strikes immediately. Channel 12 TV quoted an unnamed official as saying Israel did not want an all-out war.
Israeli media reported that depending on the Hezbollah reaction, the military considered the Beirut strike as concluding the response to the Golan Heights attack.
There were about 25 rockets launched from south Lebanon into northern Israel throughout the day, the Israeli military said. Medics reported a 30-year-old man in the cooperative community of Kibbutz Hagoshrim was killed.
Lebanon’s foreign minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, said his government condemned the Israeli strike and planned to file a complaint to the United Nations.
Hezbollah and Israel, which last fought each other in a major war in 2006, have been trading fire since the eruption of the Gaza war in October, after Hezbollah began firing at Israeli targets in what it says is solidarity with the Palestinians.
Team BharatShakti
(With Inputs from Reuters)
