Hezbollah announces death of commander after strike on south Beirut
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The Israeli military said Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Mohammed Kobeissi headed several rocket units.
PHOTO: AFP
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BEIRUT – Hezbollah announced on Sept 25 the death of a commander, hours after the Israeli army said it had killed him in a strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs which Lebanese authorities claimed killed six people.
In a statement, the Iran-backed group announced the death of “commander Ibrahim Mohammed Kobeissi”, who was “martyred on the road to Jerusalem”, the phrase Hezbollah uses to refer to fighters killed by Israeli strikes.
On Sept 24, Israel’s army said it “eliminated Ibrahim Mohammed Kobeissi, the commander of the missile and rocket network of the Hezbollah terrorist organisation”.
According to the Israeli military, the commander was in charge of several rocket units, including a precision-guided missile unit, and was hit along with other commanders of Hezbollah’s missile and rocket force.
“Kobeissi was an important source of knowledge in the field of missiles and had close ties with senior Hezbollah military leaders,” it said.
Israeli military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, told a media briefing that “at least two” other commanders from the force were also “eliminated”.
The raid came a day after Israel said it had launched another “targeted strike” on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Lebanon’s health ministry said that the “Israeli enemy raid on Ghobeiri in Beirut’s southern suburbs killed six people and injured 15”.
Hezbollah said Mr Ali Karake, its third-in-command, was alive and had moved to safety after a source close to the group told AFP that the strike on Sept 23 had targeted him.
Hezbollah and its arch-foe Israel have been exchanging near-daily cross-border fire since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023.
But violence has spiralled dramatically in recent days, raising fears of all-out war. AFP
