The Israeli military launched what it called a “targeted strike” in the capital of Lebanon on Tuesday, killing a Hezbollah commander that it deemed responsible for a deadly attack in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights over the weekend.
The Israel Defense Forces claimed responsibility for the retaliatory airstrike in Beirut aimed at killing “the commander responsible for the murder of the children in Majdal Shams and the killing of numerous additional Israeli civilians,” it said. Minutes after the initial IDF statement, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant said, “Hezbollah crossed the red line.”
Hours later, the IDF confirmed that its target, Fuad Shukr, was dead. It was immediately unclear if the commander was dead, as security sources initially said he survived. Neither Hezbollah nor Lebanese officials immediately corroborated Israel’s claim about the terrorist leader’s death.
Shukr, also known as al-Hajj Mohsin, served as Hezbollah’s most senior military commander and as a senior advisor on military affairs for Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah. Shukr was also on the FBI’s wanted list for his involvement in the bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983. That attack killed 241 servicemembers.
Tuesday’s counterstrike marked the IDF’s first airstrike against a Hezbollah target in Beirut since the Israel-Hamas war began in October. The IDF targeted the Lebanese capital last in January, assassinating a senior Hamas official.
The Biden administration previously warned Israel about conducting a direct assault against the Lebanese capital for fear of a wider conflict breaking out in the region, but White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said further escalation can still be avoided.
“We do not believe that an all-out war is inevitable, that is not something that we believe. And we believe it can still be avoided,” Jean-Pierre said during Tuesday’s press briefing.
She added that President Joe Biden believes in “diplomatic solutions” that will allow “Israel and Lebanese citizens on both sides of the border to return to their homes and live . . . in safety.”
On Monday, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed his nation would swiftly retaliate against Hezbollah after the terrorist group carried out a rocket attack against Majdal Shams, a Druze-Arab village close to Israel’s border with Lebanon, on Saturday. Twelve children and teenagers were killed while playing soccer, and more than 30 others were wounded.
Hezbollah denied its involvement, but White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday that the U.S. is convinced that the Iran-backed terror proxy is responsible.