Hezbollah says top commander was in building targeted by Israeli strike
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People walk on the rubble of a damaged site after an Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BEIRUT - Lebanon’s Hezbollah said early on July 31 that its senior commander, Fuad Shukr, had been in a building in the southern suburbs of Beirut when it was targeted by an Israeli strike, but the group did not confirm his fate.
Israel’s military announced late on July 30 that it had killed Shukr, whom it named as Hezbollah’s most senior commander and whom it blamed for an attack at the weekend that left a dozen youngsters dead in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has denied any involvement in the July 27 attack.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Shukr “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”.
A senior security source from another country in the region confirmed Shukr had died of his wounds.
At least two women and two children were also killed, said medical and security sources.
Hezbollah’s long-awaited statement on July 31 said Israel had attacked a residential building in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold for the group, and that “a number of citizens” were killed and others wounded.
It said Shukr “was present in this building at the time” but that the group was still awaiting definitive results on his fate.
Shukr was an adviser to Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, according to Hezbollah sources and the Israeli military’s announcement of his killing.
His apparent killing makes him the most senior Hezbollah commander to have been killed in nearly 10 months of exchanges of fire between the Israeli military and Hezbollah, taking place in parallel with the Gaza war.
The strike on Beirut came shortly before the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the early hours of July 31 in Iran, in a development that has further fanned fears of a wider regional escalation. Hezbollah is an ally of Hamas.
On the morning of July 31, Lebanon’s civil defence teams were on the ground in the southern suburbs of Beirut, known as Dahiyeh, clearing rubble from the strike, according to a Reuters witness.
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.
Lebanese ministers and lawmakers visited the scene on July 31.
Speaking from the ruins, Hezbollah parliamentarian Ali Ammar condemned the strike on Dahiyeh as well as the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran. Israel has made no comment on Haniyeh’s assassination.
“This enemy (Israel) demands war and we are up for it, God willing, we are up for it,” Mr Ammar said.
Lebanon’s Cabinet held an emergency meeting on the morning of July 31 to discuss the strike on Beirut and issued a statement read to reporters by Information Minister Ziad Makary.
Mr Makary condemned the strike and said retaliation by Hezbollah was anticipated, but that the government was worried the situation could “spiral”.
“Lebanon does not want war,” he said, adding that the government would engage in diplomatic efforts to calm tensions.
The weekend killings in Majdal Shams set off a diplomatic flurry led by the US to contain Israel’s response by urging it not to strike Beirut, its southern suburbs or civilian infrastructure, said five people with knowledge of the efforts.
Two of those sources said Israel had not committed to restricting its response.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib told Reuters: “We were not expecting them to hit Beirut, and they hit Beirut.”
He added that he hoped Hezbollah’s response would not trigger an escalation. REUTERS