Israel targets Hezbollah commander in Beirut strike after deadly Golan Heights attack

Israel says it has launched a strike in Beirut, Lebanon, targeting a Hezbollah commander that it blamed for a deadly attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

At least one person was killed and several others injured in the strike, according to Lebanese state news agency NNA. The injured, including some with serious wounds, have been taken to nearby hospitals.

Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said “Hezbollah crossed the red line” in a social media post minutes after the Israeli military claimed responsibility for the strike on Tuesday.

Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in a separate post on his official X account that “every dog shall have his day.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had “carried out a targeted strike in Beirut, on the commander responsible for the murder of the children in Majdal Shams and the killing of numerous additional Israeli civilians.”

It did not provide details about how the strike was carried out.

An Israeli official identified the target of the strike as Fu’ad Shukr, also known as al-Hajj Mohsin. Shukr is a senior adviser to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, according to the US government website. He serves in the highest military rank of the Iranian-backed militant group.

Israel wanted to send “a very strong message” with tonight’s strike, according to a senior Israeli official, but hopes to avoid further escalation.

The Iranian Embassy in Lebanon denounced the Israeli strike on Beirut, calling it “cowardly and sinful Israeli aggression” that “claimed the lives of a number of martyrs and wounded,” in a post on X.

NNA said the attack was conducted by a drone that fired three missiles.

According to Hezbollah-run Al Manar TV agency, the strike hit the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, a populous area that is a stronghold of the militant group.

Video from Reuters showed the aftermath of the strike in southern Beirut. Emergency responders and bystanders can be seen walking in streets covered in rubble, bricks and other debris. Multiple vehicles parked on one street appear to have been damaged by falling debris from surrounding buildings.

Israel vowed earlier this week that Hezbollah would “pay the price” for a rocket attack on a soccer field that killed 12 children and injured 44 people in the town of Majdal Shams near the Syrian and Lebanese borders.

Israel and the United States have said the rocket was fired by Hezbollah forces in Lebanon. Hezbollah denied responsibility for the strike but did say it had fired at Israeli military targets in the area.

A new close-up video emerged Tuesday showing the moment the football pitch was struck. It shows children playing in a small park next to the pitch as sirens start to blare. The youngsters appear anxious but do not initially seek shelter.

Then the sound of the incoming rocket can be heard, quickly becoming deafening, before it smashes into the ground just meters from the camera and appearing to knock the girl holding the phone to the ground. For a split second, the camera captures a huge fireball triggered by the blast.

Children are heard screaming before they run to shelter behind a wall, along with others. “Mom! Mom!” she screams as she runs to safety, as an alarm, perhaps set off by the blast, can be heard. The video ends about 30 seconds after the rocket struck.

Fears of all-out war

The attack Saturday sparked fears that an all-out war could envelop the region.

Israel informed the United States before carrying out the strike, according to a source familiar with the matter. The source said the heads up was conveyed through security channels, but did not say when it was given.

The last time Israel struck the Lebanese capital was in January, when it killed a senior figure from Hamas, the Palestinian militant group it has been warring with in Gaza since the October 7 attacks. It was a precise strike that took out an office in a building and caused little other damage.

Tuesday’s attack is of a different caliber, marking the largest Israeli escalation with the powerful Lebanese militant group since October 8.

Previously, months of tit-for-tat attacks between Israel and Hezbollah had largely been confined to areas near the border between Lebanon and Israel.

This is a developing story and will be updated.