Israel struck Hezbollah’s stronghold in South Beirut on Tuesday in retaliation for rocket fire from Lebanon that killed 12 children over the weekend, saying it had killed the commander responsible for the attack.
Israel’s army said its jets had “eliminated” Fouad Shokr, a senior Hezbollah commander responsible for carrying out an attack on the annexed Golan Heights where the children were killed on Saturday.
A source close to Hezbollah said Shokr was the target, but that he “survived the Israeli strike.” AFP was not immediately able to confirm that report.
Shokr is “in charge of commanding the military operations in southern Lebanon,” the source added, saying he had succeeded top Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed in a 2008 Damascus car bombing the group blamed on Israel.
Shokr has a $5 million price on his head from the US Treasury, which describes him as a “senior advisor” to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who played “a central role” in the deadly 1983 bombing of the US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut.
The Hezbollah source said two people were killed in Tuesday’s strike. Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said a “number” of people were injured.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Wednesday that three people, including two children, had been killed in the strike, which also left 74 injured, updating an earlier toll.
An AFP photographer at the scene saw an eight-story building that had partially collapsed in the strike, while ambulances struggled through crowds and rescue workers combed through the rubble of the building for survivors.
With AFP
