A Hezbollah commander was killed in an Israeli bombing of the south
A commander in Hezbollah’s “Radwan Force” was killed in a bombing that targeted his car in southern Lebanon, which was described as a “painful blow” to the party, which would lead to an escalation between it and Israel.
In a statement, Hezbollah mourned “Commander Wissam Hassan Tawil,” nicknamed “Hajj Jawad,” from the town of Khirbet Salam in southern Lebanon, which is the first time that the description “commander” was used without providing further details. Information has unanimously agreed that Al-Tawil is a commander in the “Radwan Force,” while a security source told Agence France-Presse that “he was assuming leadership responsibility in managing (Hezbollah’s) operations in the south.” Reuters quoted security sources as saying that Al-Tawil’s killing “A very painful blow,” likely to lead to an escalation of confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel.
The National News Agency reported that the raid was carried out by an Israeli march around 10:15 a.m. on Monday, on a “Rapid” car on the road to Al-Dabshah in the town of Khirbet Selm (located about 11 kilometers from the border with Israel), in the district of Bint. Jbeil fired a guided missile at it, resulting in two deaths and causing the car to slide to the side of the road and burn. Ambulance and firefighting teams from the Civil Defense, the “Islamic Message Scouts” and the “Red Cross” came to the scene and worked to put out the fire.
Tawil is considered the highest-ranking military leader in Hezbollah to be killed by Israeli fire since the start of the escalation on the border with Israel. His killing came about a week after the assassination of the Deputy Chairman of Hamas, Saleh Al-Arouri, in Hezbollah’s stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
The party’s military media published a group of photos of Tawil, one of which shows him sitting near the commander of the Quds Force in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Major General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in an American raid in Iraq on January 3, 2020.
He appeared in other photos with a number of party leaders, including the party’s Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, and former leader Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed by a car bomb in Damascus in 2008, in addition to Mustafa Badr al-Din, the military leader who was killed in Syria in 2016.
Hezbollah has lost more than 130 fighters in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon since the start of clashes between it and Israel.
In parallel, Israeli bombing continued towards southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah carried out several operations towards Israeli sites.
He said in separate statements that his fighters targeted “the Ruwaisat al-Alam site in Shebaa Farms and the Hadab al-Bustan site, in addition to a gathering of Israeli soldiers in Shtoula, and another gathering in the vicinity of the Jal al-Alam site.”
In southern Lebanon, the National News Agency reported that in the morning, Israeli warplanes launched a series of violent raids on Khallet Wardah on the outskirts of the town of Aita al-Shaab, launching a number of air-to-surface missiles, the explosion of which caused a sound that resonated in most areas of the south. As a result, thick smoke is drawn from the targeted area.
In Marjayoun, Israeli aircraft targeted the Karkazan area, northeast of the town of Mays al-Jabal, Bab Thaniyah in Al-Khiyam, and Tallet Al-Awaidah between Al-Adissa and Kafr Kila, with phosphorus shells. Artillery also bombed the outskirts of the town of Hula and the outskirts of Al-Wazzani.
Likewise, the National News Agency indicated that the Israeli bombing targeted a commercial establishment on Al-Adissa Road, causing fires to break out in it.
The outskirts of the towns of Al-Dhahira and Alma Al-Shaab were also subjected to artillery bombardment simultaneously with intense flights of unusual reconnaissance aircraft over the villages of Tyre district and the sea coast.
In the evening, the National News Agency reported that an Israeli march targeted a house near the mosque in the town of Al-Dhair.
A high-altitude flight of military aircraft was also recorded over the villages of the western and central sectors, accompanied by a flight of reconnaissance aircraft, especially over the southern villages and towns adjacent to the Blue Line, according to Al-Wataniya.
This came at a time when Hezbollah officials reaffirmed that they do not want to expand the war, but they refuse to enter into any negotiations before stopping the war on Gaza. The head of the Hezbollah bloc, MP Muhammad Raad, said at a ceremony honoring one of the party’s fighters: “The Israeli enemy is exaggerating for us by expanding the scope of the war and by threatening that it will launch a large-scale war, and it will resort to the military option if political means do not help in achieving its goals, aspirations, demands, allegations, and illusions that it wants from us.” During which the people of the South will be displaced, and delegations will come to convince us that we must not give an opportunity to expand the scope of the war,” stressing: “We do not want the scope of the war to expand, but we want the aggression to stop. “No one is discussing with us any matter related to our Lebanese arena before the enemy stops its aggression.”
Raad concluded by saying: “If you want a large-scale war in which you attack our country, we will go to the end, and we are not afraid of your threats, your bombing, or your aggression, and we have prepared for you what you never imagined.”
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2024-01-08 19:23:15
