Hezbollah published on February 25, the names and images of 35 of its commanders killed in its war with Israel that started on October 8, 2023 and ended after the ceasefire deal the November 27, 2024″
The following list of 35 commanders excludes former leaders Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine.
Ali Karaki, Fouad Shokor, Ibrahim Aqil, Suheil al-Husseini, Nabil Qaouq, Hussein Hazimeh, Abed el-Amir Siblini, Ali Ayyoub, Taleb Abdallah, Mohammad Nasser, Wissam Taweel, Mohammad Qassir, Abbas Salameh, Ahmad Wehbe, Ibrahim Qobaissi, Hussein Ismail, Ali Bahsoun, Mohammad Skafi, Ibrahim Jezzini, Hassan Ezzeddine, Mohammad Mahmoud, Hassan Reda, Samir Deeb, Mohammad Srour, Ali Gharib, Mostafa Shehadeh, Khodor Atwi, Mahmoud Shahine, Hussein Makki, Fouad Khanafer, Mohammad Nabulsi, Mohammad Ismail, Abbas Sharafeddine, Eid Nashar, Mohammad Khaireddine.
Nasrallah was killed in a series of airstrikes that leveled several buildings in southern Beirut. Safieddine was killed days later after he was appointed as Nasrallah’s successor.
In addition to Nasrallah and Safieddine here are the most prominent commanders killed
Nabil Kaouk
Kaouk was the deputy head of Hezbollah’s Central Council. He joined the militant group in its early days in the 1980s. Kaouk also served as Hezbollah’s military commander in south Lebanon from 1995 until 2010. He made several media appearances and gave speeches to supporters. He had been seen as a potential successor to Nasrallah.
Ibrahim Akil
Akil was a top commander and led Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Forces. He was also a member of its highest military body, the Jihad Council, and for years had been on the United States’ wanted list. The U.S. State Department says Akil was part of the group that carried out the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut and orchestrated the taking of German and American hostages.
Ahmad Wehbe
Wehbe was a commander of the Radwan Forces and played a crucial role in developing the group since its formation almost two decades ago. He was killed alongside Akil in an airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburbs that struck and leveled a building.
Mohammad Surour
Surour was the head of Hezbollah’s drone unit, which was used for the first time in this current conflict with Israel. Under his leadership, Hezbollah launched exploding and reconnaissance drones deep into Israel, penetrating its defense systems which had mostly focused on the group’s rockets and missiles.
Ibrahim Kobeissi
Kobeissi led Hezbollah’s missile unit. The Israeli military says Kobeissi planned the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli soldiers at the northern border in 2000, whose bodies were returned in a prisoner swap with Hezbollah four years later.
Ali Karaki
Karaki led Hezbollah’s southern front, playing a key role in the ongoing conflict. The U.S. described him as a significant figure in the militant group’s leadership. Little is known about Karaki, who was killed alongside Nasrallah.
Fuad Shukr
Was killed in late July, hours before an explosion in Iran widely blamed on Israel killed the leader of the Palestinian Hamas militant group Ismail Haniyeh. The U.S. accuses Fuad Shukur of orchestrating the 1983 bombing in Beirut that killed 241 American servicemen.
“Shukr was one of the founders of the group’s military wing,” said Nicholas Blanford, an expert on Hezbollah with the Atlantic Council think-tank.
“They’ve always lived in the shadows,” he said of the group’s military leaders. Nevertheless, Israeli military officials described Shukr as a close adviser of Hezbollah’s secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, and a man responsible for obtaining the bulk of the group’s more advanced weapons, “including precise-guided missiles, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, long-range rockets, and UAVs”.
The only two remaining top Hezbollah officials are Naim Qassem, who succeeded Hashem Safieddine as Secretary General of the party but fled to Tehran last October for fear of being assassinated
The other top official is Wafic Safa, the head of Hezbollah’s security apparatus. Safa was also targeted in a strike by Israel but was reportedly wounded and hospitalized