File photo: Hezbollah commander Wissam Hassan Tawil ( L) , who was killed in an Israeli strike on January 8, 2024 is shown with the commander of the Quds Force in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Major General Qassem Soleimani, (R) who was killed in an American raid in Iraq on January 3, 2020.
Who is Wissam Hassan Tawil, a prominent leader of the Hezbollah group who was killed as a result of an Israeli raid?
At a time when the continued escalation on the border between Lebanon and Israel raises fears of an expansion of the scope of the war in Gaza, a security source announced the killing of the prominent military leader in the Lebanese Hezbollah group, Wissam Hassan Tawil, on Monday, January 8, 2023, as a result of an Israeli bombing that targeted his car in southern Lebanon. According to the source, the leader “was killed in an Israeli raid that targeted his car in the town of Khirbet Salam,” located about 11 kilometers ( nearly 7 miles) from the border with Israel, where he held a leadership responsibility in managing Hezbollah’s operations in the south.
Hezbollah mourned in a statement the “martyr Mujahid Commander Wissam Hassan Tawil” from the town of Khirbet Selm. It said that he “rose as a martyr on the road to Jerusalem,” which is the phrase Hezbollah uses to mourn its fighters who have been killed by Israeli fire since the start of the war in Gaza.
This is the first time Hezbollah uses the title of commander in mourning one of its members.
Tawil is considered the highest-ranking military leader in Hezbollah to be killed by Israeli fire since the start of the escalation on the border with Israel, and security sources report that he was a leader in the Radwan Brigade.
Tawil was born in the Lebanese city of Tyre in 1970. He joined Hezbollah at an early age, and quickly rose through its ranks until he became one of its most prominent leaders.
Tawil held many leadership positions in Hezbollah, including his responsibility for the military industrialization file, and his responsibility for the foreign operations file. He was also a member of the party’s Central Shura Council.
Tawil was known for his military and operational activity, as he was responsible for many military operations carried out by Hezbollah against Israel.
Tawil was one of the most prominent leaders who participated in the Second Lebanon War in 2006, where he led a group of Hezbollah fighters in the fight against the Israeli army.
On February 12, 2006, he was appointed head of the Information Division of the General Directorate of Internal Security Forces, holding the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was also entrusted with the task of arresting the four security leaders.
He also arrested an armed group belonging to Al-Qaeda at the end of 2005.
In 2007, he received an exceptional promotion after arresting those suspected of committing the Ain Alaq crime and was given the rank of colonel.
It is noteworthy that Hassan Tawil was considered one of the most prominent figures nominated to assume the position of Director General of the Internal Security Forces, succeeding the current Director, Major General Ashraf Rifi, after he retired in 2013.
After he was killed, Hezbollah’s military media published a group of photos of Tawil, one of which shows him sitting near the commander of the Quds Force in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Major General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in an American raid in Iraq on January 3, 2020.
He appeared in other photos with a number of party leaders, including the party’s Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, and former leader Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed by a car bomb in Damascus in 2008, in addition to Mustafa Badr al-Din, the military leader who was killed in Syria in 2016.
Translated from an article in the El Nashra
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