Skip to main content
Live blog update| Israel's war on Gaza

Israel kills Hezbollah leader Ibrahim Aqil and 11 others in Beirut strike

Israel killed senior Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil and at least 11 others in an air strike on a densely populated residential neighbourhood in Beirut on Friday.

Two Lebanese security sources told Middle East Eye that Aqil had been killed in the attack. Aqil was Hezbollah's second in command since the killing of Fuad Shukr in an Israeli strike on Beirut in July.

One of the sources said the Israeli strike targeted a meeting between members of Hezbollah's Radwan special forces and Abbas Brigades. 

According to source, the meeting was being held in a tunnel under a residential building, a location that was being used for the first time, which has raised Hezbollah's concerns about the extent Israel has infiltrated its ranks.

The source added that the meeting included prominent leaders from the two units, and its goal was to plan an operation in northern Israel's Galilee.

Read more: Israel kills Hezbollah leader Ibrahim Aqil and 11 others in Beirut strike

People inspect the site of an Israeli strike in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on 20 September 2024 (Reuters/Mohamed Azakir)