An Israeli strike on south Lebanon on Monday killed a senior commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, three security sources told Reuters.

The security sources identified him as Wissam al-Tawil, the deputy head of a unit within the Radwan force. They said he and another Hezbollah fighter were killed when their car was hit in a strike on the Lebanese village of Majdal Selm.

“This is a very painful strike,” one of the security sources said. Another said, “things will flare up now.”

Israeli bombardment has killed more than 130 Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon since cross-border shelling began in the aftermath of Hamas’s attack on Israeli territory on Oct. 7. Another 19 have been killed in Syria.

Hezbollah’s secretary-general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel in two televised addresses last week not to launch a full-scale war on Lebanon.

  • steventhedev@lemmy.worldEnglish
    164·
    10 months ago

    Israeli strikes in Lebanon are against Hezbollah fighters who are launching ATGM, mortars, or other munitions into Israel. This particular incident is exceptional in two ways:

    1. This is a relatively senior ranking member who was killed (number 3 in the Radwan Force)
    2. This appears to have been an attack of opportunity rather than a retaliatory strike

    Reuters did a shit job on background context here. It took me 20 minutes half paying attention to a meeting that should have been an email to dig this up:

    • Hezbollah has launched 565 coordinated attacks (usually barrages against multiple targets along the border) on Israeli territory resulting in 4 civilian and 12 military fatalities and many more injured.
    • Due to the ongoing attacks, over 80,000 Israelis are internally displaced, and all the villages within 4km of the border have been evacuated.
    • Hezbollah were required to demilitarize and disarm as a consequence of binding UN Security Council resolution 1701 from 2006.
    • The Radwan force are a group within Hezbollah whose mission is to infiltrate into Israel and commit massacres against civilians.
    • Hezbollah is a terrorist organization designated as such by the US, UK, Canada, EU, and many other countries.
    • hydrospanner@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      10 months ago

      While I won’t touch the subject matter with a ten foot pole, since I have a take that neither side likes…

      It took me 20 minutes half paying attention to a meeting that should have been an email

      Christ on a bike, I felt that one in my bones!