Hezbollah announces death of commander after strike on south Beirut

Rockets fired from southern Lebanon are intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system as seen from Haifa in northern Israel, on September 24, 2024. Agence France-Presse

BEIRUT — Hezbollah announced on Wednesday the death of a commander, hours after the Israeli army said it had killed him in a strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs which Lebanese authorities said killed six people.

In a statement, the Iran-backed group announced the death of “commander Ibrahim Mohammed Kobeissi”, who was “martyred on the road to Jerusalem”, the phrase Hezbollah uses to refer to fighters killed by Israeli strikes.

On Tuesday, Israel’s army said it “eliminated Ibrahim Mohammed Kobeissi, the commander of the missile and rocket network of the Hezbollah terrorist organization”.

READ: Alarm grows as Israel and Hezbollah exchange intense fire

Lebanon’s health ministry said in a statement that the “Israeli enemy raid on Ghobeiri in Beirut’s southern suburbs killed six people and injured 15”.

The Israeli military said Kobeissi commanded several rocket units, including a precision-guided missile unit, and was hit along with other commanders of Hezbollah’s missiles and rockets force.

“Kobeissi was an important source of knowledge in the field of missiles and had close ties with senior Hezbollah military leaders,” it said.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told a media briefing that “at least two” other commanders from Kobeissi’s force were also “eliminated”.

READ: Israeli strikes kill 492 in Lebanon

The raid came a day after Israel said it had launched another “targeted strike” on Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Hezbollah said Ali Karake, its third-in-command, was alive and had moved to safety after a source close to the group told AFP the strike on Monday had targeted him.

Hezbollah and its arch-foe Israel have been exchanging near-daily cross-border fire since the Gaza war erupted last October.

But violence has spiraled dramatically in recent days, raising fears of all-out war.