According to the army, the high-ranking commander of the Shiite militia Hezbollah, Fuad Shukr, was “taken out” in an Israeli attack on a house in a suburb of Lebanon’s capital Beirut. Israeli media reported his death. An Israeli military spokesman confirmed that Shukr had been killed. There has been no confirmation from Hezbollah so far.

According to the army, Israeli fighter jets eliminated Shukr in a “targeted, intelligence-based elimination.” The army previously reported that it had targeted a commander of the Shiite militia Hezbollah in southern Beirut. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, at least three people were killed in the attack. Another 74 people were injured.

Shukr served as the right-hand man of Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah and was his advisor for planning and directing military operations, the army said. He had also coordinated Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel since October 7. Shukr was also responsible for the rocket attack on the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights that left 12 people dead three days ago. An independent verification of this information is currently not possible.

After at least twelve people were killed in a rocket attack on Saturday in the Druze town of Majdal Shams on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, the Israeli government announced a retaliatory strike. It blamed Hezbollah for the attack. The Shiite militia denied responsibility. It said several times that it had nothing to do with the attack.

Shukr is considered a close adviser to Hezbollah Secretary General Nasrallah and is one of the highest military commanders in the movement. According to the US government, he is a member of Hezbollah’s highest military body. Since 2017, he has also been wanted by US authorities for involvement in an attack on US troops in Beirut in 1983. US authorities have offered a reward of five million dollars (4.6 million euros) for information about Shukr.

Since the beginning of the Gaza War, there have been repeated confrontations between the Israeli army and militant groups such as Hezbollah in the Israeli-Lebanese border region. The Shiite militia says it is acting in solidarity with Hamas: it will not stop its attacks until a ceasefire is reached in Gaza. Numerous civilians have been killed in both Israel and Lebanon. Tens of thousands of residents have left their homes on both sides of the border. It is the most serious escalation since the second Lebanon War in 2006.