Who are the Hezbollah commanders Israel says it has killed

File: Israel unleashed its most widespread wave of airstrikes against hundreds of Hezbollah targets, killing at least 100 people by Lebanese tallies, and warned citizens to evacuate areas where it said the armed group was storing weapons, Sept 23, 2024

The Israeli army has killed the leader of Hezbollah with a series of attacks and claimed to have struck the group’s central headquarters in Beirut. Here are the other commanders the IDF says it has killed.

Almost all of Hezbollah’s senior commanders have been killed, Israeli forces have said – as Hezbollah confirmed the death of its leader Hassan Nasrallah in airstrikes in Beirut.

The Israeli army said it killed the leader of Hezbollah with a series of attacks and claimed to have struck the group’s central headquarters.

It follows Israel in recent weeks firing a barrage of strikes into Lebanon, repeatedly targeting Hezbollah’s leadership structure and killing hundreds.

According to the Israeli army, the only Hezbollah commander still alive is Abu Ali Rida – the commander of the Bader regional division. His location is unknown.

But who are the Hezbollah commanders the IDF says it has killed?

Hassan Nasrallah

A passionate and fiery orator, Nasrallah was the leader of the Shia political and military faction Hezbollah.

The secretary general of Hezbollah was considered by many to be the single most powerful individual in Lebanon with as many as 100,000 fighters at his disposal and members of his group being MPs as well.

Under his leadership, the group has been transformed from a mainly military force into a major political player in Lebanon.

After he was killed, the IDF said: “Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorize the world.”

Ibrahim Muhammad Qabisi

Ibrahim Muhammad Qabisi headed Hezbollah’s missile and rockets force and is said to have been killed on Tuesday after an Israeli Air Force (IAF) airstrike.

The IDF said in a statement Qabisi – also known as Hajj Abu Musa – joined Hezbollah in the 1980s and was responsible for an attack in 2000 where three Israeli soldiers were kidnapped and killed.

Ibrahim Aqil

Ibrahim Aqil, Hezbollah’s operations commander, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on 21 September, alongside several other senior commanders of the militant group’s Radwan special forces unit.

Aqil served as the acting commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force and on the Jihad Council, the group’s highest military body.

The US State Department sanctioned him for his alleged role in the 1983 bombing of the US embassy in Beirut, which killed 63 people, and an attack on a US Marine barracks in the same year, killing 241 people.

Fuad Shukr

Fuad Shukr, described as “the right-hand man” of Nasrallah and “the highest-ranking military commander” in Hezbollah, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut on 30 July.

The IDF blamed him for an attack that left 12 children and teenagers dead in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Hezbollah denied responsibility for the strike.

The commander of Hezbollah’s southern front, the IDF said Karaki was killed alongside Nasrallah on Saturday.

He was the target of two previous Israeli assassination attempts.

The first came in February when he evaded an Israeli car bombing in Nabatieh, and the second came on 23 September when the IAF struck an apartment in the Bir al Abed area of the Dahieh district in Beirut.

Wissam al Tawil

The earliest attack on a Hezbollah commander, Wissam al Tawil was killed on 8 January.

Middle East correspondent for Sky News, Alistair Bunkall, said at the time he was the deputy head of a unit within Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force.

Abu Hassan Samir

Abu Hassan Samir, who served as the head of the Radwan Force training unit, is said to have been killed on Friday 20 September.

The IDF said in a statement: “He held various positions within the terrorist organization and was commander of the Radwan Force for a decade until early 2024.”

Muhammed Hussein Srour

The commander of Hezbollah’s aerial command, Muhammed Hussein Srour was killed on Thursday in an IAF strike.

The IDF said he “led the manufacturing project of UAVs in southern Lebanon” and worked on “manufacturing and intelligence sites… located next to civilian infrastructure”.

Taleb Sami Abdullah

Taleb Sami Abdullah, also known as Al-Hajj Abu Taleb, was killed on 12 June in an airstrike on Jwayya.

He was said to be the head of the Al-Nasr unit, which operates in the eastern sector of south Lebanon.

Mohammed Nasser

The head of Hezbollah’s Aziz Unit, based in southwestern Lebanon, is said to have been killed on 3 July.

The IDF described Nasser as “the counterpart” of Taleb Sami Abdullah

SKY NEWS