Senior Hezbollah Commander Killed in Israeli Strike on Beirut Suburbs
Israeli attacks across Lebanon kill at least 12 as tensions persist despite April ceasefire
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — A senior commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Wednesday, marking the first Israeli attack on the area in nearly a month, according to a source close to the group.
The source told AFP that Malek Ballout, described as the operations commander of Hezbollah’s Radwan force, was killed in the strike.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that the Israeli military had targeted “the commander of Hezbollah’s Radwan force.”
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israeli warplanes struck the Ghobeiri area in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a district considered a major Hezbollah stronghold.
An AFP correspondent at the scene reported extensive destruction, with one building reduced to rubble as residents fled carrying their belongings.
A Lebanese security source told AFP that the strike targeted an apartment where senior Radwan force members had reportedly been holding a meeting.
The attack was the first Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs since April 8, when large-scale Israeli bombardments across Lebanon killed more than 350 people.
Many residents of the southern suburbs had already fled after Hezbollah entered the broader regional conflict in March and had not returned despite a ceasefire that took effect on April 17.
The latest escalation came as U.S. President Donald Trump said there was “a very good chance” of reaching a peace agreement with Iran amid ongoing regional tensions.
Elsewhere in Lebanon, Israeli strikes killed at least 11 people in the south and east of the country on Wednesday, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
In the southern town of Saksakiyeh, four people were killed and 33 wounded, including six children and four women, the ministry said.
The NNA also reported multiple Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon, including attacks on the town of Yater.
Since March 2, Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed more than 2,700 people and displaced over one million others, particularly in southern and eastern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The Israeli military said Thursday that an “explosive drone impact” in southern Lebanon wounded four Israeli soldiers the previous day, one of them severely.
The conflict has also heavily affected Lebanon’s healthcare system. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the World Health Organization had verified 152 attacks on healthcare facilities, resulting in 103 deaths and 241 injuries.
“These attacks have resulted in the closure of three hospitals and 41 primary health centers and caused damage to a further 16 hospitals,” Ghebreyesus said Wednesday.
Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, Israel maintains the right to act against what it describes as “planned, imminent or ongoing attacks” by Hezbollah.
During a visit to Israeli troops stationed in southern Lebanon near the so-called “yellow line,” Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir said Israeli forces would “seize every opportunity to deepen the dismantling of Hezbollah and continue weakening it.”