THE AGE
An Israeli strike killed a commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force in south Lebanon on Monday, security sources familiar with the group’s operations in Lebanon told Reuters, in one of the most high-profile attacks on its senior officers in three months of hostilities with Israel.
More than 130 Hezbollah fighters including members of the Radwan force have been killed in hostilities across the Israeli-Lebanese border since Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza on October 7, igniting a conflict that has rippled around the region.
Wissam al-Tawil, the deputy head of a Radwan unit, and another Hezbollah fighter were killed when the car they were in was struck in the village of Majdal Selm, some six kilometres from the border, three security sources in Lebanon said.
There was no immediate comment from Israel.
Tawil was one of the most senior Hezbollah commanders killed in the hostilities so far, according to another source in Lebanon familiar with the matter.
The group circulated photographs of Tawil with Hezbollah leaders including Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Imad Mughniyeh, the group’s military commander who was killed in Syria in 2008.
Another photo showed him sitting next to the late leader of the Iranian Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, who killed by a US drone strike in Baghdad four years ago.
One of the security sources called Tawil’s death “a very painful strike”. Another said “things will flare up now.”
Hezbollah says its campaign aims to support Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The hostilities between the group and Israel have largely been contained to areas near the border.
