From IDF names top Radwan commanders killed in Beirut strike, says they led Galilee invasion plans
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleEmanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The IDF names the top leadership of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force who were killed alongside senior commander Ibrahim Aqil in yesterday’s airstrike in Beirut.
Aqil was the head of Hezbollah’s military operations, the acting commander of the Radwan Force, and the head of a long-gestating plan to invade the Galilee.
Aqil had been meeting with the senior commanders of the Radwan Force under a residential building in Beirut when the IDF carried out its strike. The top commander and 15 other Hezbollah officers were killed in the strike.
Among the dead was Ahmed Wahbi, identified by Hezbollah and the IDF as the head of the terror group’s training unit and a former commander of the Radwan Force. The IDF says Wahbi was among those involved in the planning of a Hezbollah invasion of the Galilee, and was also involved in “advancing Hezbollah’s entrenchment in southern Lebanon, while attempting to improve the organization’s ground combat capabilities.”
Over the years and during the first months of the war, the military says Wahabi was involved in planning and carrying out rocket fire and infiltration attacks.
Other top Radwan Force commanders killed in the strike are identified by the IDF as: Samer Halawi, commander of the coastal region; Abbas Muslimani, commander of the Qana region; Abdullah Hijazi, commander of the Ramim Ridge region; Muhammad Reda, commander of the Khiam region; Hassan Madi, commander of the Mount Dov region; Hassan Abd al-Satar, head of operations; and Hussein Hadraj, chief of staff.
“These commanders had been leading and planning the Radwan Force’s attack and infiltration plan into Israeli territory for years, to be executed when given the order,” the military says.
“Aqil and the commanders eliminated in the strike were responsible for planning, advancing, and executing hundreds of terrorist operations against Israel, including the planning of Hezbollah’s murderous scheme to raid the communities of the Galilee,” the IDF adds.
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