One of the most high-profile assaults on Hezbollah’s senior officials in three months of hostilities with Israel, an Israeli strike on Monday killed a commander of the group’s elite Radwan force in south Lebanon, security sources familiar with the group’s activities in Lebanon told Reuters.
Since Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza on October 7, more than 130 Hezbollah fighters, including members of the Radwan force, have been killed in conflicts across the Israeli-Lebanese border, sparking a confrontation that has spread throughout the area.
Three security sources in Lebanon reported that Wissam al-Tawil, the deputy head of a Radwan unit, and another Hezbollah member were killed when the car they were in was struck in the village of Majdal Selm, some 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) from the border.
Israel refrained from commenting right away.
Another person familiar with the situation in Lebanon claims that Tawil was among the highest ranking Hezbollah commanders to have been killed in the hostilities thus far.
Pictures showing Tawil with key Hezbollah figures, such as Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and the group’s late military commander Imad Mughniyeh, who was assassinated in Syria in 2008, were also shared by the group.
Photos of killed head of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force Wissam Hassan Tawil “Hajj Jawad”.
He had several pictures with killed IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani. pic.twitter.com/6AK0uMZJnz
— Clash Report (@clashreport) January 8, 2024
In another picture, he was seated close to Qassem Soleimani, the late commander of the Iranian Quds Force, who was assassinated four years ago in Baghdad by a US drone strike.
The killing of Tawil was described as “a very painful strike” by one of the security sources. Someone else stated, “Things will flare up now.”
Hezbollah claims that the goal of its campaign is to aid Gaza Strip Palestinians. Most of the fighting between the organization and Israel has been limited to the vicinity of the border.
When an Israeli attack killed deputy Hamas head Saleh al-Arouri in a Hezbollah-controlled section of Beirut’s southern suburbs last week, tensions increased. Israel has not acknowledged or refuted allegations it was responsible for the strike.
In a “preliminary response” to Arouri’s death, Hezbollah said on Saturday that it had launched 62 missiles toward a significant Israeli observation station.
One of the other Radwan force members slain in the fighting was Abbas Raad, a prominent Hezbollah politician’s son. In November, he was murdered in an Israeli attack.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, forewarned Israel not to go all out for a full-scale war on Lebanon in two broadcast speeches last week.
“Whoever thinks of war with us – in one word, he will regret it,” Nasrallah stated.
According to Naim Qassem, the deputy commander of Hezbollah, the organization does not wish to “initiate total war, but if Israel decides to wage total war on us then we in the field will respond with total war without hesitation and with all we have” on Sunday.
Since the start of hostilities, nineteen Hezbollah militants have lost their lives in Syria.
Iran-aligned groups from all across the area have become involved in the Hamas-Israel conflict. For example, the Houthis from Yemen have fired on ships in the Red Sea and launched missiles and drones at Israel, and militias backed by Tehran have attacked US forces in Iraq and Syria.
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