Israel and its Hezbollah Operations in the South of Lebanon: Israeli–Lebanese Directed Police and the Golan Heights
Israel said that it hit a senior Hezbollah official in the suburbs of Lebanon, whom it blamed for an assault that left 12 children and teens dead in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
Many officials fear the conflict in Gaza will lead to a larger war that will cause tremendous damage to the country, as evidenced by the fact that Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire across the northern border.
The Israeli officials who spoke about the strike on Tuesday and its target did so on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details of the operation.
Videos and photos were posted on social media on Tuesday showing smoke rising above buildings in the dark. Some showed crowds gathering in the streets of the southern suburb, a dense civilian area where Hezbollah holds sway.
Fire trucks and ambulances rushed through Beirut’s streets to the scene of the strike, according to Lebanon’s state-run news agency. Lebanese television channels showed footage of a seriously damaged building.
“I was just opening the door of my house,” said Mohamed Awada, 52, a taxi driver who lives in Beirut’s southern suburbs, “and then I heard something like thunder and then a big explosion.”
Ms. Ghaddar said that Mr. Shukr, often nicknamed al-Hajj Mohsin, was a powerful commander within Hezbollah who was a key figure in its operations in the south of Lebanon.
“He’s a very big target,” said Ms. Ghaddar, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in Washington. “He would be the biggest loss for Hezbollah since Oct. 7.”
The program was willing to pay $5 million for information on Mr. Shukr, even though he was tagged by the State Department as a global terrorist.
The Druse village of Majdal Shams: Israel and Hamas should exercise restraint to prevent an Israeli-Lebanon conflict
The Druse village of Majdal Shams was attacked on Saturday, but Hezbollah denied they were behind it. The Israeli military claimed that Hezbollah was the only militant group in the area with the type of rocket used in the strike. The White House national security spokesman said on Monday that Hezbollah was behind the strike.
The United States and other nations are urging Israel to exercise restraint when it comes to the conflict with Hezbollah, warning against any possibility of an attack by the group on Israel.
Close to the location of Tuesday’s strike in Beirut, police closed off the roads and an ambulance wailed its way to the area. People were shouting, “My family was inside, my family is inside!” They ran toward the explosion.
Israel made clear that it would retaliate for the Saturday rocket attack. “Hezbollah crossed the red line,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant wrote on X Tuesday.
When asked about the strike in a briefing with reporters, U.S. State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said that the United States’ support for Israel was “ironclad” especially if it did defend itself against Iran-backed threats. He said those included threats from Hezbollah.
The strike came as the international community urged restraint from both sides, fearing that an escalation on the Israel-Lebanon border could spark an all-out war.
White House national security advisor John Kirby told reporters on Monday that they don’t want the war to escalate. We don’t want another front to open up in the north. Finding a diplomatic solution to reduce the tensions is what we want to do.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was also responded to questions about the strike in Beirut. She believed that it can still be avoided and that all out-war is not inevitable.
The best way of defusing the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict is for Israel and Hamas to stop fighting in the Gaza Strip, according to US diplomats.