Ibrahim Aqil, Killed Hezbollah Commander, Was Wanted for Deadly Bombings Against Americans in Lebanon

Ibrahim Aqil, a senior operational commander of Hezbollah who was killed in an Israeli attack on Friday, was wanted for deadly bombings against Americans in Lebanon, with a $7 million bounty placed on his capture. Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israeli army, announced on Friday, September 30, that Ibrahim Aqil and other commanders of the 'Radwan' unit were present during a targeted airstrike by Israel beneath a residential building in the 'heart of Dahieh' in Beirut. According to him, at least 10 Hezbollah commanders were killed alongside Ibrahim Aqil. Two security sources in Lebanon confirmed that Ibrahim Aqil was killed on Friday during an airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut. He was targeted during a meeting attended by senior members of the special Radwan unit of the Hezbollah militia. Aqil, who also went by the aliases 'Tahsin' and 'Abdul Qadir', is the second senior military member of Hezbollah's 'Jihad Council' to be targeted in the same area after the killing of Fouad Shukr. Israel has intensified its attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon following months of fighting with Hamas fighters in Gaza. Both groups receive support from the Islamic Republic. Like Shukr, Aqil is considered an old member of Hezbollah, which was established by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran in the early 1980s to fight against Israeli forces occupying Lebanon. According to a security source, Aqil, born in a village in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, joined the Shia political movement 'Amal' in Lebanon before rising through the ranks of Hezbollah as one of its founding members. In the course of two bombings at the U.S. embassy and the Marine barracks in 1983 in Beirut, 300 Americans were killed. The U.S. had accused Aqil of being involved in the truck bombings at the U.S. embassy in Beirut that killed 63 people, and six months later at the Marine barracks that left 241 dead. He was also accused of orchestrating the kidnapping of American and German hostages in Lebanon and was one of the international terrorists wanted with a $7 million bounty on his capture. The killings of Shukr and Aqil are considered severe blows to Hezbollah's operational command branch, which has recently been under heavy attacks in Lebanon. Source: Reuters