Israel targets Hezbollah commander in Beirut in retaliation for Golan Heights attack

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An Israeli drone launched three missiles on a building in a highly populated suburb of south Beirut on Tuesday night, killing at least three people, including a woman and a child, and injuring 74 others.

The Israeli army announced it targeted and killed Fouad Shukr, also known as Hajj Mohsen, the head of Hezbollah's military operations. Lebanon's Hezbollah confirmed the death of Fouad Shukr in a statement on Wednesday a day after the strike.

Nine people were critically injured, while the rest suffered moderate to minor injuries, the health ministry said. It added that the toll would be updated “as the rubble removal work continues".

The Lebanese capital has been on tenterhooks for days, awaiting Israeli retaliation for a rocket attack on Majdal Shamas in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed a dozen children.

Israel and the US blamed the attack in the Syrian territory on Hezbollah, which denied any involvement.

Plumes of smoke rose over the suburb of Dahieh, where the Lebanese armed group and political party Hezbollah has a heavy presence. Witnesses in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood reported explosions.

The head of Hezbollah's military operations is wanted by the US for his involvement in the 1983 bombing of the American embassy in Beirut.

Israel confirmed carrying out the strike, saying it had "targeted in Beirut the commander responsible for the murder of the children in Majdal Shams and killed many Israeli civilians".

The army added later on that the strike "eliminated Fouad Shukr, the most senior military commander in the terrorist organisation Hezbollah and the head of the organisation's strategic operations".

The Israeli strike hit a highly populated street in the Bir El Abed area of the Haret Hreik neighbourhood near Bahman hospital.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing at least eight ambulances leaving the area after the strike.

Mariam Zoabi, 35, a mother, was in the shower when she heard and felt a series of strikes hit less than a block away from her house.

The terrified cries of her two children were audible over phone as she told The National she was immediately evacuating her home to stay at her aunt’s house.

Videos on social media showed hundreds of Hezbollah supporters gathering at the scene of the strike and calling for the movement's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, to respond.

Iran's mission to the UN issued a letter condemning the attack, saying "the Israeli regime targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, further demonstrates that this regime has no regard for the norms and principles of international law".

Hezbollah is backed by Iran.

The US, meanwhile, affirmed its commitment to Israel's security was "iron-clad and unwavering" against all Iran-backed threats, including Hezbollah.

"We are working on a diplomatic solution that will allow citizens to safely return to their homes," deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said.

Red lines

Attacking Beirut was a "red line" for Hezbollah, a western diplomatic source told The National on Tuesday.

Lebanon's Deputy Parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saab told Reuters on Monday that Israel's retaliation could be measured if it "avoided civilians and Beirut along with its suburbs".

Mr Bou Saab said he has been in contact with US mediator Amos Hochstein amid diplomatic efforts to avert a full-scale war.

But if the target was missed, it might provoke a "reasonable" response from Hezbollah, the diplomatic source added, despite the reported civilian casualties.

Before the strike on Beirut, a Lebanese member of parliament and a political source close to Hezbollah said the group had decided to respond to any Israeli retaliation.

Israel is trying “to embarrass the resistance in all its spectrums so that it does not respond, and this is unacceptable”, a second political source close to Hezbollah said.

It was unclear whether Israel's strike on Beirut would be the extent of its promised retaliation.

Lebanese MP Abdelrahman Al Bizri said earlier that the country was “preparing for the worst".

“Right now we are in a state of waiting. Hopefully, the worst doesn’t happen,” he told The National.

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has called a cabinet meeting for Wednesday morning to discuss “measures that contribute to deterring the Israeli aggression” on Lebanon.

In a statement, he denounced Israel’s targeted strike and urged the international community to implement international resolutions and “press with all force to oblige Israel to stop its aggression and threats".

“The Israeli killing machine has not had enough of targeting the Lebanese areas in the south and the Bekaa, reaching deep into the capital, Beirut, and meters away from one of the largest hospitals in Lebanon,” he said.

The strike is among a series of “aggressive operations that are claiming civilians in a clear and frank violation.”

Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said he hoped any response by Hezbollah would not spark an escalation.

Tuesday's attack was only the second time Beirut has been struck since hostilities broke out between Hezbollah and Israel on October 8, in parallel with Israel's war on Gaza.

In January, Israel assassinated Hamas's deputy political bureau leader Saleh El Arouri in Beirut's southern suburbs.