The Israel Defense Forces has claimed that it has killed Fuad Shukr, who is top military commander of Hezbollah, in an attack on an eight-storey apartment building in southern Beirut on Tuesday.
The attack happened in Dahieh, a Beirut suburb, which is a stronghold of Hezbollah, around 7.40 pm. The Lebanese health ministry said three people were killed, including two children, and 74 people were injured. Hezbollah was yet to confirm Shukr's death.
The strike was in response to a rocket attack on a soccer field in Golan Heights, where 12 children were killed on Saturday. IDF held Shukr responsible for the Saturday attack in Majdal Shams.
Who was Fuad Shukr?
Fuad Shukr aka Hajj Mohsin is reportedly the right-hand man to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and the head of the strategic division of the Iran-backed outfit's Jihad Council. He has been coordinating Hezbollah's attacks against Israel after the October 7 Hamas attack on the country, according to IDF.
He headed the operations of advanced weaponry at Hezbollah, including UAVs, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles amd precise guided missiles.
Shukr helped Bashar al-Assad's troops fight Syrian rebels during the civil war in the war-torn country.
Shukr was also wanted by the US over his alleged involvement in the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, in which two truck bombs were detonated at buildings in the Lebanese capital. The attack on October 23, 1983, killed 307 people including 241 US and 58 French military personnel. Six civilians and two attackers also died in the attack. The US had put a $5 million bounty on Shukr's head.