BEIRUT — The terrorist group Hezbollah announced on Wednesday the death of its top commander military, Fuad Shukr, the target of a bombing Israeli on Tuesday in a suburb of Beirut, an attack that stokes fears of an escalation of the conflict in middle East.
A day after the Israeli attack in Beirut, Hezbollah announced in a statement the death of “great combat leader Fuad Shukr”, also known by the alias Sayyed Mohsen.
The Iranian-backed group had said Fouad Shukur was in the building during Tuesday’s attack and that they were searching for him in the rubble to determine his fate.
Hezbollah’s announcement came after an overnight attack in Tehran that killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and which Hamas and Iran blamed on Israel.
The Iranian-aligned Shiite movement said Shukr was “a great martyr on the Road to Jerusalem,” a term the group uses to refer to its fighters killed by Israel.
Israel said late Tuesday it had killed Shukur, blaming him for a weekend rocket attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 children. The United States also blamed Shukur for organizing and planning a bomb attack on a Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983 that killed 241 American officers.
Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire since October 8, a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel that left more than 1,200 people dead and 250 kidnapped, triggering the war between the Israelis and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Corpse under rubble
According to the statement, Hezbollah’s leader will speak at Shukr’s funeral on Thursday, where he will outline the movement’s position following the bombing, which he described as a “violent attack” and a “serious crime.”
A source close to Hezbollah had previously indicated that his body was found under the rubble of the attacked building in the Lebanese capital.
Israel announced on Tuesday night that it had eliminated Shukr, described as the “highest-ranking military commander” of the Shiite movement and “right-hand man” of the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
Israel blamed Shukr for a rocket attack that hit a soccer field on Saturday in Majdal Shams, a town in an area of the annexed Golan Heights, killing 12 children.
Hezbollah, an ally of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, denied being behind the attack.
“Devastating blows”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that his country had “dealt devastating blows” to its enemies in recent days, citing Shukr’s death.
“We killed the right-hand man of Hassan Nasrallah (the leader of Hezbollah) who was directly responsible for a massacre of children,” Netanyahu said in a televised speech.
“We have settled our accounts with Mohsen and we will settle our accounts with anyone who harms us,” he said using the alias Shukr.
Hezbollah described Shukr as one of the “great symbols of resistance” who continued “the fight until his last breath.”
Hezbollah said Shukr’s death would encourage “his comrades in arms to continue forward with determination and courage to preserve the victories and aspirations (…) of this great leader.”
The bombing of a southern Beirut suburb, a crowded residential area that is a Hezbollah stronghold, killed five civilians, three women and two children, the Lebanese health ministry said, but the report has not been independently confirmed.
The Beirut bombing that killed Shukr came hours before an attack in Iran’s capital killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, sparking fears that the Gaza war between the Palestinian militant movement and Israel could spill over into a wider regional conflict.
Source: With information from AFP and AP