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20 September 2024 Beirut attack

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20 September 2024 Beirut attack
Part of the September 2024 Lebanon strikes
Aftermath of the attack
Haret Hreik is located in Lebanon
Haret Hreik
Haret Hreik
Location within Lebanon
LocationHaret Hreik, Dahieh, Lebanon
Date20 September 2024
TargetRedwan Force command committee
Deaths55[1]
Injured68+
Perpetrator Israel

On 20 September 2024, Israel launched an air attack that leveled an apartment building in the Dahieh suburb of Beirut, Lebanon.[3] The attack killed at least 45 people, including 16 Hezbollah militants, two of whom were commanders, identified as Ibrahim Aqil and Ahmed Wehbe. They were the second and third Hezbollah commanders assassinated by Israel in two months during the ongoing Israel–Hezbollah conflict, after the killing of Fuad Shukr.

The other victims were civilians, including at least three children and seven women. At least 68 others were injured.[4][5][6] Israel said the strike targeted commanders of Hezbollah's elite Redwan Force command committee in which they were holding a meeting within an apartment building.[7][8] Seventeen remain missing from the attack.[9]

Background

Hezbollah and Israel have been involved in an ongoing cross-border military exchanges that has displaced entire communities in Israel and Lebanon since the start of the Israel–Hamas war in late 2023.[10][11]

Earlier on 17 September 2024, just a few hours before the explosions, the Security Cabinet of Israel established a new war objective: the safe return of displaced residents to the north.[12][13] Israel's domestic security agency, Shin Bet, announced it had thwarted a Hezbollah plot to assassinate a former senior defense official using an explosive device.[14][15] On the same day and the following one, thousands of handheld pagers and hundreds of walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah exploded in simultaneous attacks across Lebanon and Syria.[16][17][18] According to The New York Times, Israeli intelligence services had manufactured the devices.[19] The incident was described by Hezbollah's officials as the organization's biggest security breach since the start of the conflict.[20]

Target

Photo of Ibrahim Aqil used by the United States Department of State

Ibrahim Aqil was a Lebanese militant and senior official in Hezbollah.[21] He was a member of the Jihad Council, which oversees the military and security operations of the organization. Aqil served as the head of operations and was considered by some as the de facto Chief of Staff of Hezbollah.[22][23] He was also believed to be the head of the Redwan Force, an elite Hezbollah branch.[21][24]

In the 1980s, he was a key figure in the Islamic Jihad Organization, a terrorist cell operated by Hezbollah and responsible for the 1983 US embassy bombing in Beirut, killing 63 people, and the attacks on the multinational force bases in Beirut that resulted in the deaths of 305 people.[25] During the 1980s, Aqil was responsible for the kidnapping of American and German hostages.[26]

On 10 September 2019, the U.S. Department of State designated him as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.[22] On 18 April 2023, the Rewards for Justice program offered a reward of up to $7 million for information about him.[22] He was reportedly involved in planning a Hezbollah operation in northern Israel, which was believed to be similar to the October 7 Hamas-led attacks.[27]

Attack

On 20 September 2024, at around 15:45 EEST, an air-strike targeted a building on Jamous Street in the neighborhood of al-Qaem in the southern suburbs of Beirut, an area known as a Hezbollah stronghold. Initial reports suggested Naim Qassem, Hezbollah's second in command, was one of those who was targeted.[28] The Lebanese National News Agency said that the air-strike was carried out in two sorties by an F-35 fighter jet.[29]

At least 45 people[30] including three children and seven women were killed, while 68 others were injured.[4][5][29] Footage of the targeted site shows extensive damage to the building, with the street littered with debris and destroyed vehicles. It was also reported that the IDF confirmed a "targeted strike"; no changes in Home Front Command defensive guidelines were announced.[31] The strike leveled the apartment building,[3] cutting through the eight storeys and 16 apartments down to its basement.[32] Another building also collapsed in the attack.[29] Rescue workers immediately started digging through the rubble as 20 people remain missing from the attack.[33]

The IDF said that at least 10 Hezbollah commanders were killed in the airstrike in Beirut alongside Ibrahim Aqil,[34] who was holding a meeting at the basement of the building at the time of the strike.[32] Hezbollah later confirmed the deaths of 15 of its members in the airstrike, including Aqil and Ahmed Wehbe.[35]

The assassinations of Aqil and Wehbe marked the second and third Hezbollah commanders killed by Israel after Fuad Shukr in two months.[36]

Reactions

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the attack "proves again that the Israeli enemy does not value any human, legal or moral considerations".[29]

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said he was "not aware of any prior notification regarding Israeli strikes on Beirut".[37] US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the assassination served justice to Aqil, stating: "any time a terrorist who has murdered Americans is brought to justice, we believe that that is a good outcome."[38]

Hamas denounced the attack, calling it a "crime" and saying that "Israel would pay the price" for the killings.[39]

Hezbollah confirmed Aqil's death. In a statement, the group labelled him "a great jihadist leader", adding that he had "joined the procession of his brothers, the great martyr leaders, after a blessed life full of jihad, work, wounds, sacrifices, dangers, challenges, achievements, and victories."[3] Hezbollah also named Ali Reda Abbas as the new leader of the Redwan Force.[40]

See also

References

  1. ^ "LIVE: Hezbollah missile barrage hits north Israel, hundreds of thousands of Israelis take shelter, deadly strikes on south Lebanon: Day 353 of the Gaza war". Lorient Le Jour. 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  2. ^ "LIVE: Hezbollah missile barrage hits north Israel, hundreds of thousands of Israelis take shelter, deadly strikes on south Lebanon: Day 352 of the Gaza war". Lorient Le Jour. 22 September 2024. Archived from the original on 22 September 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Frankel, Julia; Mroue, Bassem (2024-09-20). "Rare Israeli airstrike in Beirut kills Hezbollah commander and more than a dozen others". AP News. Archived from the original on 2024-09-21. Retrieved 2024-09-22.
  4. ^ a b Jamal, Urooba; Marsi, Federica (21 September 2024). "Death toll in Beirut strike rises to 37: Ministry". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 21 September 2024. Lebanon's health ministry says the death toll from yesterday's air attack on Beirut's southern suburb has reached 37 people.
  5. ^ a b Jamal, Urooba; Marsi, Federica (21 September 2024). "Death toll in Beirut attack goes up". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 21 September 2024. Retrieved 21 September 2024. Lebanon's Health Minister says at least 31 people, including three children and seven women, were killed in the Israeli attack on southern Beirut yesterday. Another 68 people were wounded in the attack, he added. The three children among the 31 killed in Israel's attack on southern Beirut yesterday were aged four, six and 10, Lebanon's Health Minister said during a press conference.
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  7. ^ ""إسرائيل" توسّع الحرب بعملية ضخمة دمّرت مبنييْن في الضاحية: استشهاد مؤسّس قوة الرضوان إبراهيم عقيل وهيئة أركانها". وكالة القدس للأنباء (in Arabic). 2024-09-21. Archived from the original on 2024-09-21. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
  8. ^ Bassam, Laila; Lubell, Maayan (September 22, 2024). "Israel kills top Hezbollah figure in Beirut strike". Reuters. Archived from the original on 20 September 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
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  33. ^ "الميادين: ارتفاع حصيلة العدوان الإسرائيلي على الضاحية الجنوبية لبيروت إلى 19 شهيداً ونحو 20 مفقوداً ..أخر المستجدات". برس بي (in Arabic). 2024-09-21. Archived from the original on 2024-09-21. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
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  37. ^ "'10 Hezbollah commanders' killed alongside Ibrahim Aqil in Israeli Haret Hreik strike, Israeli army says: Day 350 of the Gaza war - L'Orient Today".
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  40. ^ "Hezbollah's Radwan Force chooses its new lead commander - report". The Jerusalem Post. 2024-09-22. Retrieved 2024-09-23.
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