- Israel kills Hezbollah leader Fuad Shukr
- Hezbollah denies involvement in Golan attack
- Lebanon condemns Israeli airstrike as illegal
Israel claims to have killed a prominent Hezbollah leader after launching an air assault on a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon’s capital.
According to the Israeli military, Fuad Shukr was the target of an “intelligence-based elimination.
Hezbollah has yet to confirm Shukr’s death but says he was in a building that was hit at the time.
Israeli officials allege he was responsible for Saturday’s missile strike on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which killed 12 people, the majority of whom were youngsters. Hezbollah has denied involvement in the bombing.
Hezbollah stated in a statement on Wednesday that the rubble was still being removed from the building site in Daniyeh, a bastion of the armed group that was “still waiting for the result.”
It stated that several persons were slain in the attack.
Najib Mikati, the Prime Minister of Lebanon, decried “blatant Israeli aggression.
He defined it as the latest “criminal act” that involved a “series of aggressive operations killing civilians in clear and explicit violation of international law.
In a quick social media post following the strike, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant stated: “Hezbollah crossed the red line.”
An Israeli official confirmed to CBS News that Israel notified the US of the Beirut strike.
The US believes Fuad Shukr is a senior adviser to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
It has offered a $5 million (3.9 million) reward for information about him, claiming he also had a “central role” in the 1983 bombing of a US Marine barracks in Beirut, which killed 241 US military people.
Haret Hreik, the Dahiyeh neighborhood targeted by the air raid, is densely inhabited and heavily fortified. Hezbollah checkpoints encircle Dahiyeh.
Following the Israeli strike, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that US President Joe Biden hoped a broader conflict between Israel and Hezbollah could be avoided.
“We do not want to see an escalation; we do not want to see an all-out war,” she went on:
Earlier in the day, two anonymous Israeli officials told Reuters that while Israel wanted to punish Hezbollah, it did not want to draw Lebanon into a full-scale war.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) later stated that there would be no fresh orders for Israelis seeking shelter, implying that they did not expect a rapid or extensive Hezbollah response.
Both parties understand the cost of an all-out war, which may bring Iran into support of its Lebanese proxy.
Following Saturday’s tragic incident in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Israel’s security cabinet gave Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant the authority to determine how to reply.
A rocket exploded on a football pitch in Majdal Shams on Saturday, killing at least 12 people, the majority of whom were youngsters.
Israel has implicated Hezbollah, which denies any involvement.
It was the bloodiest incident near the Israel-Lebanon border since tensions between Israel and Hezbollah flared up in October.
The escalation followed Hamas‘ strike on Israel on October 7.
Hezbollah, which supports Hamas, created a small second front in Israel’s north, and the two sides have been exchanging fire ever since.
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Recently, world leaders have urged prudence amid fears of an all-out conflict.
On Tuesday, the UK foreign secretary warned UK citizens in Lebanon to leave immediately or face “becoming trapped in a warzone.”
According to the Foreign Office, David Lammy has arrived in Qatar with Defence Secretary John Healey “to drive forward efforts to bring the conflict in Gaza to an end and to press for regional de-escalation.
He stated that escalation and destabilization were “in no one’s interests” and that “we must engage closely with partners like Qatar, who play a key role in mediating the conflict in Gaza so that we can bring this devastating war to an end.”
