Hezbollah missile commander killed in Israeli airstrike — 4th terror leader to be taken out in a week
The Hezbollah commander overseeing the terrorists’ missile unit is the latest top official slain by an Israeli airstrike as the Jewish state continues to decimate the Iran-backed terror group’s leadership.
Ibrahim Kobeisi, who is accused of coordinating the missile strikes targeting northern Israel, was identified among the six people killed following an airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Tuesday, IDF and Lebanese officials said.
The IDF said there were other “key commanders” at the apartment complex where Kobeisi was hit, with Lebanon’s ministry of health confirming that at least 15 others were injured in the blast.
“As part of his duties in the terrorist organization, he was responsible for the planning and execution of many terrorist plots against the IDF forces and the citizens of the State of Israel,” the IDF said in a statement.
Kobeisi is just the latest of Hezbollah’s top commanders to be killed by Israel in recent months, leaving the terror group’s chief, Hassan Nasrallah, more and more alone amid fears that all-out war will break out in the region.
Ibrahim Aqil
Last Friday, the IDF confirmed that an airstrike targeting 16 senior Hezbollah commanders and operatives killed top leader Ibrahim Aqil as the group gathered in Beirut.
Aqil served as the top official of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, which has overseen the daily attacks against Israel that began on Oct. 8.
“Aqil and the commanders eliminated in the strike were responsible for planning, advancing, and executing hundreds of terrorist operations against Israel, including the planning of Hezbollah’s murderous scheme to raid the communities of the Galilee,” the IDF said in a statement.
Ahmed Wahbi and Abu Hassan Samir
Ahmed Wahbi and Abu Hassan Samir were among those who were with Aqil when the Israeli strike hit them.
Wahbi helped coordinate the strikes on Israel, with Samir, a former Radwan commander, overseeing the elite unit’s training in Lebanon.
Wissam al-Tawil
Along with Samir, Wissam al-Tawil served directly under Aqil as the Radwan Forces field commander. He was killed in January when an airstrike hit his SUV in his hometown of Khirbet Silem.
At the time, al-Tawil was the highest-ranking Hezbollah official to be killed.
Fuad Shukr
The terror group suffered one of its largest blows on July 30, when an airstrike killed Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah’s highest-ranking military commander, who served as a key founder and as Nasrallah’s most trusted ally.
Despite his ability to elude the IDF for months, Shukr was allegedly led to a vulnerable location after receiving a phone call in his secret residence in Beirut’s Dahiyeh neighborhood, a Hezbollah official told the Wall Street Journal.
Following Shukr’s death, Nasrallah swore to launch a bloody counterattack against the Jewish state.
Taleb Sami Abdullah
In June, the IDF confirmed the death of Taleb Sami Abdullah, the man behind Hezbollah’s Nasr unit, said to be comparable with the Radwan Forces.
Abdullah was killed in an Israeli strike that took out a Hezbollah command center stationed in southern Lebanon.
Mohammed Nasser
Less than a month later, the IDF killed Mohammed Nasser, the leader of Hezbollah’s Aziz unit, one of the three major companies under the group’s Southern Front command.
Nasser was allegedly behind the constant firing from southwestern Lebanon, with the Hezbollah commander killed when an Israeli airstrike hit the city of Tyre.
