Israel’s military announced on Tuesday that it had killed Fuad Shukr, a high-ranking Hezbollah commander, in an airstrike on Beirut. This action was described as retaliation for a cross-border rocket attack that killed 12 young people in the Druze village of Majdal Shams three days earlier, which Israel attributed to Hezbollah.
The airstrike caused a loud explosion and a visible plume of smoke in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated that the strike was a demonstration of Israel’s resolve to respond to attacks and emphasized that no location is beyond reach for Israeli forces.
Hezbollah has not yet responded to the airstrike and continues to deny any involvement in the Golan Heights rocket attack. However, the Lebanese health ministry reported that the strike resulted in three deaths and 74 injuries in the Haret Hreik neighborhood, home to Hezbollah’s Shura Council.
Following the attack, Lebanese officials and Hezbollah’s regional allies, including Hamas, the Houthis, Syria, and Iran, condemned the airstrike. The White House reiterated its support for Israel against “Iran-backed threats” and is working on a diplomatic solution.
The Israeli military did not issue new civil defense instructions, suggesting that further immediate strikes might not be planned. Media reports indicate that Israel sees the Beirut strike as a possible conclusion to its response to the Golan Heights attack, but ongoing rocket fire from southern Lebanon into northern Israel continued throughout the day, resulting in at least one more death.
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib criticized the Israeli strike and said the government would file a complaint with the United Nations. He expressed hope that Hezbollah’s response would be measured to prevent further escalation.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed concern about potential escalation but did not believe a broader conflict was inevitable. The hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, which have flared since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October, have thus far been limited to border regions, with both sides signaling a desire to avoid a wider confrontation.
