Hezbollah confirms death of its leader Ibrahim Aqil

The Israeli military and the source of security in Lebanon reported that Ibrahim Aqil was killed along with other senior members of Hezbollah's elite unit in an airstrike, sharply escalating the year-long conflict between Israel and the Lebanese group, supported by Iran.

Hezbollah confirmed Aqil's death in a statement issued just after midnight, calling him “one of its most important leaders,” without giving details about his death.

In a later statement summarizing Aqil's biography, Hezbollah said he was the victim of a “perfidious Israeli assassination,” adding that he was killed in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh.

According to the IDF, Aqil was Hezbollah's chief of military operations, acting commander of the elite Radwan Force terrorist force, and head of the Galilee invasion plan.

Since October, Hezbollah has published the names of 484 members killed by Israel, the Times of Israel reported.

The Israeli military carried out a “targeted attack in Beirut” on Friday. Israeli aircraft struck a building where Hezbollah and Hamas were meeting with two rockets, just after Hezbollah claimed responsibility for firing 140 rockets at northern Israel, Israeli media reported.

United States offered a $7 million reward for information about Aqil. He was wanted for his role in the 1983 bombing of the US Marine barracks in Beirut, as well as for leading the operation to take American and German hostages in Lebanon in the 1980s, the Times of Israel website recalls.