Top Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil killed in Israel strikes in Lebanon: Who was he?

A senior Hezbollah military commander was killed in Lebanon in an Israeli airstrike on Friday (September 20).

AFP cited a source close to the Lebanese group as saying that , Ibrahim Aqil, the leader of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan unit, died in the Israeli strike, which targeted the group’s stronghold in south Beirut.

The unit was created to launch offensive attacks, including forays into Israel, according to The Washington Post. The unit is believed to have been engaged in the fighting along the Lebanon-Israel border since October 7.

Aqil, also known by the alias “Tahsin,” was a prominent figure in Hezbollah’s military apparatus and was listed by the US government as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.

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The US Department of State offered a reward of up to $7 million for information leading to Aqil. He served on the group’s highest military body, the Jihad Council, and played a key role in Hezbollah’s activities dating back to the 1980s.

Aqil’s involvement in the Islamic Jihad Organisation, Hezbollah’s notorious terrorist arm, linked him to two of the deadliest attacks on US personnel in Lebanon: the bombing of the US Embassy in Beirut in April 1983, which led to the death of 63 people, and the US Marine barracks bombing in October 1983, which claimed the lives of 241 US military personnel.

In addition to these attacks, Aqil was implicated in the kidnapping of American and German hostages in Lebanon during the same period, an operation he personally oversaw.

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In 2015, the US Department of the Treasury designated Aqil under Executive Order 13582 for his role within Hezbollah.

Lebanon’s health ministry reported that the strike left three people dead and 17 others wounded. Israel, acknowledging the attack, described it as a “targeted strike” aimed at a Hezbollah stronghold in the southern part of the Lebanese capital.

Hezbollah has not yet officially commented on Aqil’s death.

Israel has carried out numerous strikes in Lebanon in recent years, primarily targeting Hezbollah infrastructure. The Israeli strike that killed Aqil comes at the heels of pager attacks and walkie-talkie blasts all over Lebanon. These have been widely blamed on Israel.

With inputs from AFP