The Israeli operation carried out on Friday, September 20 near Beirut confirms the shift, and even the extension, of the conflict in the Middle East. Ibrahim Aqil, a senior Hezbollah official, was killed in an Israeli army attack in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital.
“Israeli Air Force fighter jets carried out a targeted attack (…) Eliminate Ibrahim Aqil, head of Hezbollah’s operations unit, commander of the Radwan unit”said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israeli army. He added that a “ten commanders” of Hezbollah, “responsible for daily rocket attacks” in Israel, had died in the attack.
The Lebanese movement confirmed in the afternoon the death of Ibrahim Aqil, “one of our great leaders”murdered “on the road to Jerusalem”according to the formula used by Hezbollah to designate Israeli victims. A source close to the Shiite movement said earlier that Aqil had been killed. “during a meeting with the commanders”.
The United States had offered a reward of 7 million dollars (6.25 million euros) for any information on Ibrahim Aqil, wanted by Washington for his involvement in the bloody anti-American attacks in Beirut in 1983.
This is the second senior Hezbollah military commander to be eliminated by the Jewish state since the pro-Iranian organization opened the southern front in Lebanon almost a year ago, in support of the Palestinian Hamas in its war against Israel in the Gaza Strip.
“A new phase of the war,” according to Israel
Fourteen people were killed in the attack and 66 others were injured, nine of them seriously, according to the Lebanese health ministry, which stressed that rescuers expected to discover more victims under the rubble. An Agence France-Presse photographer at the scene of the attack saw a collapsed building and people evacuating victims amid scenes of chaos.
The attack is the deadliest in a Beirut district since Israel and Hezbollah fought a bloody, month-long war in 2006.
“Attacking a populated residential area once again demonstrates that the Israeli enemy disregards any humanitarian considerations”Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati denounced. Hamas condemned a “violent and terrorist attack” and Iran one “flagrant violation (…) of territorial integrity » from Lebanon, while the Israeli army assured that it was not looking “a great climb” in the region.
“Our enemies have nowhere to take refuge, not even in the suburbs. [sud de] Beirut »Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, describing the attack targeting Ibrahim Aqil as part of“a new phase of the war”.
“Very concerned”The United Nations (UN) called on Friday “de-escalation” and to “maximum moderation”.
Lebanese complaint to the UN Security Council
The attack is a new blow to Hezbollah after a series of deadly explosions, blamed on Israel, that hit broadcasting systems on Tuesday and Wednesday, leaving 37 dead and nearly 3,000 injured.
The head of Lebanese diplomacy, Abdallah Bou Habib, announced the filing of a complaint with the UN Security Council after “Israeli cyber-terrorist attack constitutes a war crime”.
International law ” forbidden “ the use of devices “trapped” have the appearance of objects “harmless”UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk told the Security Council on Friday. “It is a war crime to commit acts of violence intended to spread terror among civilians”he added.
The Revolutionary Guard, Iran’s ideological army, has vowed “an overwhelming response from the resistance front”name given by Tehran to armed groups in the region hostile to Israel.
Intensification of exchanges of fire
Since Thursday, exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and Hezbollah have intensified. The Jewish state announced on Friday that around 140 rockets had been fired from Lebanon towards its territory by midday. The Islamist movement claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks on several Israeli military sites, including an intelligence base, while Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said on Thursday that Israel would receive “a terrible punishment” after the two waves of explosions.
On Thursday evening, Israel stepped up its airstrikes in southern Lebanon, without commenting on the attacks there or in eastern Lebanon, Hezbollah strongholds. But the Jewish state said this week that it was expanding its war aims to the northern front, namely the border with Lebanon, to allow tens of thousands of Israelis displaced by the violence to return home.
The main objectives declared so far were the destruction of Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007, and the return of hostages held in Palestinian territory since the October 7, 2023 attack on Israeli soil.
“You won’t be able to bring back the northerners” at home, Hassan Nasrallah replied. “ The Lebanese front with Israel will remain open until the end of the aggression in Gaza”said.
Meanwhile, shelling continues on the besieged Palestinian enclave, where two Israeli strikes left at least 14 people dead on Friday morning, according to the civil defence. One of them targeted a house in the Nousseirat camp, killing eight people, while six people, including children, were killed in the shelling of a building in Gaza City, according to the source.
