A terrorist who helped kill American soldiers 40 years ago has finally met a violent death. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed senior Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil and other top commanders Friday as they were gathered underneath a residential building in Beirut. The airstrike came hours after Hezbollah, in what has become a daily occurrence, launched another 140 rockets toward northern Israel from an area of Lebanon that should be demilitarized.
The U.S. State Department and U.S. Department of Justice had offered “a reward of up to $7 million” for information on the whereabouts of Aqil, a “key leader” of Hezbollah.
“During the 1980s, Aqil was a principal member of Islamic Jihad Organization — Hizballah’s terrorist cell — that claimed the bombings of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut in April 1983, which killed 63 people, and the U.S. Marine barracks in October 1983, which killed 241 U.S. personnel,” states the reward bulletin. “In the 1980s, Aqil directed the taking of American and German hostages in Lebanon and held them there.”
According to an Israeli official, “the entire senior command of Hezbollah's Radwan force was eliminated in the strike (around 20 commanders).” Lebanese officials did not confirm Aqil’s death but said earlier that the strike killed at least eight and wounded 59.
In areas with civilian populations on the surface, IDF airstrikes equip conventional bombs with Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) kits, which converts them into precision-guided weapons. “The weapons that we’re talking about are 2,000-pound bombs that can be converted into precision-guided munitions called JDAMs, and they’re necessary to get to the tunnels. You need a bomb that big to go down to where these cowards are hiding,” explained Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on “Washington Watch.” Earlier this year, the Biden administration announced it was “reviewing” the transfer of these heavy-ordnance, precision bombs.
“Aqil and the Radwan Force commanders who we attacked are the commanders who drew up and led the Hezbollah terror group’s plan … to attack into the northern territory of the State of Israel — what they called ‘The plan to conquer the Galilee,’” said IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel 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.”
Also similar to Hamas, Hagari added, “they gathered underground, under a residential building, in the heart of the Dahiyeh [a Beirut suburb], while using civilians as a human shield. They met to coordinate terror activities against Israeli civilians.”
Now, the Radwan commanders have gone to meet the Lord of the universe and give to him an account of their time on earth.
The airstrike caps the worst week for Hezbollah since the Iran-backed terror group in Lebanon joined Hamas and other Iranian proxies in their multi-front assault against Israel following the October 7 invasion.
On Wednesday, thousands of pagers (which Hezbollah fighters carried as a low-tech screen against Israeli intelligence operations) simultaneously exploded, killing 12 and injuring nearly 3,000 — almost all members of Hezbollah.
The following day, short-range radios and other electronic devices also exploded, killing 25 and injuring 450 more. All the devices had been secretly manufactured by Israeli intelligence and were laced with explosives. The explosions crippled Hezbollah’s communications network and made their operatives afraid of using any electronic devices, lest they too should explode.
The one-two punch came in response to Hezbollah’s constant rocket barrages into northern Israel, which now total hundreds of rockets every day. Israel followed up Thursday with airstrikes on “hundreds of rocket launcher barrels” that “were ready to be used in the immediate future to fire toward Israeli territory.”
Israel’s military operations are aimed at making it safe for civilians in northern Israel to return to their homes. “The landscape has changed over the past year in northern Israel because they’ve destroyed large swaths of our forests,” Jewish News Syndicate senior contributing editor Caroline Glick explained during Wednesday’s edition of “Washington Watch.” “The people have been refugees. They’ve been out of their homes since mid-October. And when they get back, you’re going to have dozens and dozens of homes in their communities … That just no longer exists.”
Before that is possible, Israel has to make sure that some of the world’s most notorious terrorists “no longer exist” either.
Joshua Arnold is a senior writer at The Washington Stand.
