Israeli officials claim they eliminated top Hezbollah commanders in Beirut strike

Israeli officials on Friday announced the country killed multiple Hezbollah leaders in a planned attack, including a man who was responsible for multiple attacks against Israel since the start of the war with Hamas. 

Israel launched a retaliatory attack on Hezbollah on Friday, after the terrorist organization fired 140 missiles at Israel earlier in the morning. Hezbollah said its attack was in response to Israeli strikes that targeted Hezbollah officials on Thursday. Israeli forces have been fighting a war with the terrorist organization Hamas since last October, but the terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon has also been attacking Israel. 

The Middle Eastern country revealed that one of the commanders it killed was Ibrahim Aqil, the head of Hezbollah’s operations unit and the commander of an elite special forces unit called the Radwan Force. Aqil led Hezbollah’s operations unit for nearly two decades, but had served with the Lebanese militant group since the 1980s. Other leaders were also killed.

"[Aqil and other leaders hid] beneath a residential building in the heart of the Dahieh neighborhood, using civilians as human shields," Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a news briefing, per The Hill. “They had gathered to coordinate terrorist activities against the citizens of Israel."

Friday's strike on Beirut, Lebanon, resulted in the deaths of 12 people, and wounded at least 60 others. The attack was also a sign of the conflict escalating between Hezbollah and Israel, after the terrorist group accused Israel of killing dozens of people and wounding thousands of others in the pager and walkie-talkie attacks earlier this week.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a post on X that the country has entered a "new phase" in its war with Hezbollah, and will continue fighting to return approximately 80,000 Israelis that have been displaced in the war.

“We will continue to pursue our enemy in order to protect our citizens,” Gallant wrote.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.