From the Liveblog of
Friday, September 20, 2024
Hagari: Aqil, top Hezbolah commanders were underground, below a residential building when hit
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says top Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil and the top leadership of the terror group’s operations array and elite Radwan Force were gathered underground when they were targeted and killed in an Israeli airstrike a short while ago.
“They gathered underground, under a residential building, in the heart of the Dahiyeh, while using civilians as a human shield. They met to coordinate terror activities against Israeli civilians,” Hagari says in a press conference.
Hagari says that at least 10 Hezbollah commanders were killed in the airstrike in Beirut, alongside Aqil.
Elaborating on an IDF statement issued a few minutes earlier, Hagari says, “Aqil and the Radwan Force commanders who we attacked are the commanders who drew up and led the Hezbollah terror group’s plan, to be carried out on the day the order was given, to attack into the northern territory of the State of Israel — what they called ‘The plan to conquer the Galilee’.”
In this planned invasion, says Hagari, “Hezbollah intended to raid Israeli territory, occupy the communities of the Galilee, and murder and kidnap Israeli citizens — similar to what Hamas did on October 7.”
He says that “the commanders who we eliminated today” had been overseeing attacks on Israeli citizens since October 8, and planned to carry out more such attacks.
In addition to his overseeing attacks on Israel and plans to invade Israel, Aqil was responsible for Hezbollah’s attacks overseas, Hagari says, calling him “a terrorist with a great deal of blood on his hands, responsible for the deaths of many civilians and innocents.” He repeats that Aqil was wanted by the US with a multi-million-dollar bounty on his head.
Hagari says the IDF is maintaining a high offensive and defensive readiness, but that there is no change to home front regulations at present.
