Israel killed Ibrahim Aqil, a senior Hezbollah terrorist partly responsible for the 1983 bombing of a U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, on Friday as he gathered underground with fellow terrorists in southern Beirut.
In a statement, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said:
Today (Friday), September 20, 2024, IAF aircraft conducted a targeted, intelligence-based strike in the area of Beirut, and eliminated Ibrahim Aqil, the Head of Hezbollah’s Operations Unit and the Commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Forces, who was also in charge of Hezbollah’s “Conquer the Galilee” attack plan.
During the strike, senior operatives in Hezbollah’s Operations Staff and commanders from the Radwan Unit were eliminated alongside Aqil. Ibrahim Aqil and the Radwan commanders who were eliminated today were planning Hezbollah’s “Conquer the Galilee” attack plan, in which Hezbollah intended to infiltrate Israeli communities and murder innocent civilians.
Aqil’s began his involvement with Hezbollah in the 1980’s, as an operative in its ‘Islamic Jihad Organization’ terror cell, which is responsible for Hezbollah’s terror attacks outside of Lebanon, and was part of many of Hezbollah’s terror attacks in multiple countries against innocent civilians.
Since 2004, he has served as the Head of Hezbollah’s Operations Unit, in which he was responsible for Hezbollah’s bombing attacks, anti-tank missile attacks, air defense, and other military fields.
Additionally, he operated as Commander of the Radwan Forces, the elite unit of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, whose main goal is to conquer the communities of the Galilee and kill innocent civilians and IDF soldiers.
Ibrahim Aqil directed and took part in many terror attacks against innocent Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers.
Aqil was responsible for the anti-tank missile attack toward the Avivim post in 2019 in northern Israel, the terror attack at the Megiddo Junction in 2023, and the infiltration attempts of Hezbollah terrorists into Israeli territory to murder and kill civilians and IDF soldiers during the “Swords of Iron” War.
Aqil directed the terror attack on the U.S. Embassy in Beirut in 1983. He was a wanted suspect in the United States.
The IDF will continue to act to degrade Hezbollah’s capabilities and will continue to operate in all arenas to protect the civilians of the State of Israel.
The U.S. State Department announced a $7 million bounty last year for Aqil, further explaining in a statement:
Ibrahim Aqil, also known as Tahsin, serves on Hizballah’s highest military body, the Jihad Council.
During the 1980s, Aqil was a principal member of Hizballah’s terrorist cell the Islamic Jihad Organization, which claimed responsibility for the bombings of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut in April 1983, which killed 63 people, and the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in October 1983, which killed 241 U.S. personnel.
Also in the 1980s, Aqil directed the taking of American and German hostages in Lebanon and held them there.
An unidentified Marine holds a flag and stares skyward at the U.S. Marine base after a massive bomb blast that destroyed the base and caused a huge death toll rising to 239, near Beirut airport, Oct. 23, 1983. The number of dead included 218 Marines, 18 Navy men and 3 Army personnel. (AP Photo/Mark Foley)
IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari added, in a briefing to Israelis in Hebrew (translated by the IDF):
Earlier today, the IDF conducted a targeted strike in Beirut, eliminating Ibrahim Aqil, the head of the Hezbollah terrorist organization’s operations unit, along with the senior chain of command of the Radwan Force. They were gathered underground, beneath a residential building in the heart of the Dahieh neighborhood, using civilians as human shields. They had gathered to coordinate terrorist activities against the citizens of Israel.
Aqil and the Radwan Force commanders we struck were the masterminds of and the force behind Hezbollah’s plan to execute an attack on Northern Israel on what they referred to as the “Plan to Conquer the Galilee.” As part of this plan, Hezbollah intended to infiltrate Israel, seize control of the communities in the Galilee, and to kill and kidnap Israeli civilians, much like Hamas did on October 7th. Since October 8th, these commanders led attacks against Israel’s citizens and were planning further operations.
Ibrahim Aqil was the head of Hezbollah’s operations and the de facto commander of the Radwan Force, Hezbollah’s elite force. In his role, he was responsible for Hezbollah’s anti-tank, explosives, and air defense operations, among other activities. He orchestrated numerous terrorist attacks, including the 2019 Avivim outpost attack, the 2023 Megiddo Junction bombing, and attempted infiltrations into Israel. He was also behind Hezbollah’s overseas attacks. Aqil had large amounts of blood on his hands, was responsible for the deaths of many innocent civilians, and was wanted by the United States, which offered millions of dollars of bounty for information that could lead to his elimination.
We remain highly prepared in both offensive and defensive capacities. We are monitoring developments closely, and at this stage, there are no changes to the Home Front Command’s defensive guidelines. We will provide updates immediately should anything change. In the meantime, I urge you to remain vigilant. We are in a tense period, with the IDF operating on multiple fronts, and our enemies are trying—and will continue to try—to challenge us.
For the past eleven months, we have been operating resolutely to achieve all the objectives of the war: first and foremost, in Gaza, to dismantle Hamas and bring all the hostages back to Israel, and in the north, to restore the security required for residents to return to their homes.The IDF will continue to operate wherever necessary to protect the citizens of Israel.
In July, Israel killed Hezbollah’s second-in-command, Fuad Shukr, who was also involved in the embassy bombing.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
