On 20 September 2024,Israel launched an air attack that leveled an apartment building in theDahieh suburb ofBeirut, Lebanon.[2] The attack killed at least 45 people, including 16Hezbollah militants, including commandersIbrahim Aqil and Ahmed Wehbe. The other victims were civilians, including at least three children and seven women. At least 68 others were injured.[3][4][5]
Israel said the strike targeted commanders ofHezbollah's eliteRedwan Force command committee which was holding a meeting within the apartment building.[6][7] Two months earlier, Israel had assassinated another commander,Fuad Shukr, in the then ongoingIsrael–Hezbollah conflict.
Background
Hezbollah and Israel have been involved in an ongoingcross-border military exchanges that has displaced entire communities in Israel and Lebanon since the start of theGaza war in late 2023.[8][9]
Earlier on 17 September 2024, just a few hours before the explosions, theSecurity Cabinet of Israel established a new war objective: the safe return of displaced residents to the north.[10][11] Israel's domestic security agency,Shin Bet, announced it had thwarted a Hezbollah plot to assassinate a former senior defense official using an explosive device.[12][13] On the same day and the following one, thousands of handheldpagers and hundreds ofwalkie-talkies used by Hezbollahexploded in simultaneous attacks across Lebanon and Syria.[14][15][16] According toThe New York Times,Israeli intelligence services had manufactured the devices.[17] The incident was described by Hezbollah's officials as the organization's biggest security breach since the start of the conflict.[18]
Target
Ibrahim Aqil was a Lebanese militant and senior official inHezbollah.[19] He was a member of theJihad Council, which oversees the military and security operations of the organization. Aqil served as the head of operations and was considered by some as the de facto Chief of Staff of Hezbollah.[20][21] He was also believed to be the head of theRedwan Force, an elite Hezbollah branch.[19][22]
On 10 September 2019, the U.S. Department of State designated him as aSpecially Designated Global Terrorist.[20] On 18 April 2023, the Rewards for Justice program offered a reward of up to $7 million for information about him.[20] According to a military and counterterrorism analyst he was involved in planning an operation similar to theOctober 7 attacks.[25]
Attack
On 20 September 2024, at around 15:45EEST, an air-strike targeted a building on Jamous Street in the neighborhood of al-Qaem in the southern suburbs of Beirut, an area known as a Hezbollah stronghold. Initial reports suggested Naim Qassem, Hezbollah's second in command, was one of those who was targeted.[26] The LebaneseNational News Agency said that the air-strike was carried out in two sorties by anF-35 fighter jet.[27]
At least 45 people[28] including three children and seven women were killed, while 68 others were injured.[3][4][27] Footage of the targeted site shows extensive damage to the building, with the street littered with debris and destroyed vehicles. It was also reported that the IDF confirmed a "targeted strike"; no changes inHome Front Command defensive guidelines were announced.[29] The strike leveled the apartment building,[2] cutting through the eight storeys and 16 apartments down to its basement.[30] Another building also collapsed in the attack.[27] Rescue workers immediately started digging through the rubble as 20 people remain missing from the attack.[31]
The IDF said that at least 10 Hezbollah commanders were killed in the airstrike in Beirut alongside Ibrahim Aqil,[32] who was holding a meeting at the basement of the building at the time of the strike.[30] Hezbollah later confirmed the deaths of 15 of its members in the airstrike, including Aqil and Ahmed Wehbe.[33]
The assassinations of Aqil and Wehbe marked the second and third Hezbollah commanders killed by Israel afterFuad Shukr in two months.[34]
As of 11 December 2024[update], five people remain missing.[35]
Reactions
Lebanese Prime MinisterNajib Mikati said the attack "proves again that the Israeli enemy does not value any human, legal or moral considerations".[27]
White House National Security Council spokespersonJohn Kirby said he was "not aware of any prior notification regarding Israeli strikes on Beirut".[36] US National Security AdviserJake Sullivan said the assassination served justice to Aqil, stating: "any time a terrorist who has murdered Americans is brought to justice, we believe that that is a good outcome."[37]
Hamas denounced the attack, calling it a "crime" and saying that "Israel would pay the price" for the killings.[38]
Hezbollah confirmed Aqil's death. In a statement, the group labelled him "a great jihadist leader", adding that he had "joined the procession of his brothers, the great martyr leaders, after a blessed life full of jihad, work, wounds, sacrifices, dangers, challenges, achievements, and victories."[2] Hezbollah also named Ali Reda Abbas as the new leader of the Redwan Force.[39]
^abJamal, Urooba; Marsi, Federica (21 September 2024)."Death toll in Beirut strike rises to 37: Ministry".Al Jazeera. Retrieved21 September 2024.Lebanon's health ministry says the death toll from yesterday's air attack on Beirut's southern suburb has reached 37 people.
^abJamal, Urooba; Marsi, Federica (21 September 2024)."Death toll in Beirut attack goes up".Al Jazeera.Archived from the original on 21 September 2024. Retrieved21 September 2024.Lebanon's Health Minister says at least 31 people, including three children and seven women, were killed in the Israeli attack on southern Beirut yesterday. Another 68 people were wounded in the attack, he added. The three children among the 31 killed in Israel's attack on southern Beirut yesterday were aged four, six and 10, Lebanon's Health Minister said during a press conference.
Israel