Lebanon’s Hezbollah confirmed on Wednesday that senior commander Fuad Shukr was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of Beirut, marking the highest-ranking Hezbollah figure to be killed in nearly 10 months of conflict with Israel.
Shukr’s body was found under the rubble late Wednesday, nearly 24 hours after the strike, according to Lebanese security sources. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced his death on Tuesday.
Hezbollah stated that its secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, will address the nation on Thursday during Shukr’s funeral, amid growing expectations of potential retaliation by the group, which has raised concerns among world leaders about the possibility of a wider war.
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The airstrike targeted Hezbollah’s stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut at dusk on Tuesday, following a Hezbollah rocket attack on Saturday that killed 12 children in a Druze village in the Golan Heights.
Since October 8, Hezbollah has been launching daily attacks on northern Israel in support of Hamas in Gaza. Most of northern Israel’s communities have been evacuated, and Israel has repeatedly warned that it could escalate into a full-scale war if Hezbollah does not cease its attacks and retreat from the border.
The strike on Shukr occurred just hours before the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, which has further fueled fears of broader regional conflict. Iran and Hamas have both accused Israel of Haniyeh’s assassination.
Shukr was a close adviser to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. According to Israeli military sources, at least two women and two children were also killed in the airstrike.