Israel says Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil 'eliminated' in Beirut strike

People and first responders gather in front of a building targeted by an Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 20, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

The Israeli military announced that the commander of Hezbollah's elite Radwan unit, Ibrahim Aqil, and other senior figures of the Lebanese armed group had been killed in an air strike in Beirut on Friday.

"Following precise intelligence, the Israeli Air Force fighter jets carried out a targeted strike in the Beirut area, eliminating Ibrahim Aqil, commander of the Radwan unit" along with other "senior figures in the operations network and command chain" of Radwan, the military said in a statement.

The statement said Aqil had been involved in Hezbollah since the 1980s and was part of a cell "responsible for Hezbollah's terror attacks outside of Lebanon".

It also said he "directed the terror attack on the US Embassy in Beirut in 1983".

The United States had offered a $7 million reward for information on Aqil, describing him as a "principal member" of the organisation that claimed the 1983 embassy bombing that killed 63 people.

The Israeli military statement also said Aqil and other commanders killed in Friday's strike "were planning" an attack on northern Israel in which they "intended to infiltrate Israeli communities and murder innocent civilians".

"About 10 commanders were killed" in the strike along with Aqil, Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a televised press conference.

"These are commanders who were involved in planning anti-tank missile operations, rocket fire, and the planned incursion into Israeli territory."

He said the group had gathered "underground in the heart of a residential neighbourhood" when they were struck.