Hezbollah confirms death of military commander Ibrahim Aqil in Israeli airstrike on southern Beirut

By Anadolu staff

BEIRUT (AA) - Hezbollah late Friday confirmed its top military commander Ibrahim Aqil was killed in the Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburb.

The Lebanese resistance group mourned Aqil as one of its "top leaders, who was martyred on the road to Jerusalem," in reference to the group’s fight in support of Palestinian resistance facing a devastating Israeli onslaught in the Gaza Strip.

The airstrike killed at least 14 people and injured 66 others, with nine in critical condition, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.

The official Lebanese National News Agency said the strike hit an apartment in a residential building in the Jamous area.

The Israeli army confirmed it assassinated Aqil, along with senior commanders from the group's elite Radwan Force.

The strike marks the third attack by Israel on the southern suburb since an ongoing wave of hostilities began nearly a year ago.

Previous notable attacks include the assassination of Hamas political bureau deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri on Jan. 2 and the killing of prominent Hezbollah leader Fouad Shukr on July 30.

The airstrike occurs amid a new wave of Israeli escalation in Lebanon, with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announcing Thursday that the conflict with Hezbollah has entered “a new phase.”

The Friday strike came amid an escalation in cross-border warfare with Israel since the start of Tel Aviv's onslaught on the Gaza Strip, where nearly 41,300 victims, mostly women and children, have since been killed killed following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group, Hamas, in early October.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar