Another top Hezbollah leader was killed in an Israeli airstrike. The Israeli military made this claim on Sunday. The incident occurred before the Lebanese group had recovered from several devastating blows and the killing of its leader, Hassan Nasrullah.
Nabil Kouk, deputy head of Hezbollah’s central council, was killed on Saturday, the Israeli military said. Hezbollah had no immediate comment, and it was not immediately known where the attack took place.
Several senior Hezbollah commanders have been killed in Israeli strikes in recent weeks. Among them are the group’s founding members—who have eluded death or arrest for decades and were close to Nasrallah.
Hezbollah is targeted by a sophisticated attack through their pagers and walkie-talkies. Israel is widely blamed for the attack. At least 1,030 people, including 156 women and 87 children, were killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
The recent attacks have driven millions from their homes in Lebanon. Environment Minister Nasser Yassin told The Associated Press that the government estimates that about 250,000 people are in shelters, with three to four times more staying with friends or relatives or camping on the streets.
Hezbollah continues to fire rockets and missiles into northern Israel. But, most of it has been buried or fallen into the open. As a result, there were few casualties and only scattered damage.
Kouk has been a veteran member of Hezbollah since the 1980s and served as Hezbollah’s military commander in southern Lebanon during the 2006 war with Israel.
He often appeared in local media and commented on politics and security related events. He used to eulogize the lives of senior Hezbollah members at their funerals. The US announced sanctions against him in 2020.
Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel when the fighting broke out after Hamas attacked Gaza on October 7. Hezbollah and Hamas are allies that consider themselves part of the Iranian-backed ‘Axis of Resistance’ against Israel.
Israel has responded with massive airstrikes, and the conflict has steadily reached the brink of full-scale war. As a result, there is a danger of huge fires across the region.
Israel has said it is determined to return some 60,000 of its citizens to the northern areas it evacuated a year ago. Hezbollah says it will not stop firing rockets until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.
But despite months of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas led by the US, Qatar and Egypt, no progress has been made on a ceasefire.