Last night, Hezbollah released the names of 14 members of the terror group killed in yesterday’s Israeli air strike in Beirut, Lebanon. Among them is that of commander in chief Ibrahim Aqil, about whom Israeli intelligence knew everything, so much so that yesterday they followed him from the hospital where he went to the building where his men were waiting. Among the names of the victims is Ahmed Wahabi, identified by the group as “commander”, a term rarely used to describe high-ranking officers killed in Israeli attacks. In the past, only three other members had been called commanders: Taleb Abdullah, commander of the Nasr Regional Division; Muhammad Nasser, commander of the Aziz Regional Division; and Wissam al-Tawil, deputy head of the elite Radwan Force. Hezbollah said that Wahabi was the head of the Central Training Unit and had held command roles in Radwan. Like other Hezbollah leaders, Wahabi had also participated in the Syrian civil war in support of the Assad regime. Aqil and Fuad Shukr, a member of the Jihad Council killed in July, have been described as “great jihadist leaders.”
Hezbollah has so far released the names of 497 members killed by Israel since the fighting began in October. The Palestinian jihadist group Hamas expressed its condolences over the death of Hezbollah’s top commander, Ibrahim Aqil, and Hamas described the event as a “crime and madness for which Israel will have to pay the price.” Aqil and the Radwan Unit commanders who were killed yesterday were planning Hezbollah’s “Conquer the Galilee” attack plan, with which Hezbollah intended to infiltrate Israeli communities and murder and kidnap innocent civilians, just as Hamas did on October 7, 2023. Some believe that the “Conquer the Galilee” operation was planned by Iran in accordance with the oft-announced Iranian revenge following the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh on July 31 in Tehran. For the Iranians, this is yet another setback after the one last April, when on the night between April 13 and 14, to avenge the attack on a building near the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Tehran launched over 200 drones and a hundred missiles against Israel. The operation was a total failure since the Iranian missiles and drones were intercepted and destroyed before reaching their targets on Israeli soil. As the Times of Israel recalled, Ibrahim Aqil began his collaboration with Hezbollah in the 1980s, as part of the terrorist cell known as the “Islamic Jihad Organization”, responsible for Hezbollah operations outside Lebanon. He participated in several Hezbollah terrorist attacks in various countries, targeting innocent civilians. Since 2004, he has led Hezbollah’s Operations Unit, overseeing bombings, anti-tank missile attacks, air defense and other military operations. He was also the commander of the Radwan Forces, Hezbollah’s elite unit whose purpose was to invade communities in the Galilee, killing civilians and Israeli soldiers. Aqil planned and participated in numerous attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers, including the launching of anti-tank missiles on the Avivim position in 2019, the attack on the Megiddo junction in 2023, and attempts to infiltrate Israel during “Operation Iron Swords,” aimed at killing civilians and IDF soldiers.
Daniel Hagari, Rear Admiral of the Israel Defense Forces and IDF spokesman, said: “He was also behind Hezbollah’s attacks abroad. Aqil had large amounts of blood on his hands, was responsible for the deaths of many innocent civilians, and was wanted by the United States, which offered millions of dollars in rewards for information that could lead to his elimination.” Brett McGurk, the White House special envoy for the Middle East, told an Israeli-American Council conference in Washington that the Biden administration is not mourning the death of Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil. However, he stressed that the United States may have reservations about the move, given the possibility of regional escalation. “Ibrahim Aqil, who was killed today, was responsible for the Beirut embassy attack 40 years ago, so no one sheds tears for him. That said, we have disagreements with the Israelis about tactics and the assessment of the risk of escalation. The situation is very concerning. I am confident that through diplomacy, deterrence and other measures, we will find a solution,” McGurk said.
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