MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Israel takes down key terrorist leaders in separate strikes

Ismail Haniyeh and Fuad Shukr played leading roles in Hamas and Hezbollah respectively

Two key leaders of terrorist organizations technically at war with Israel were killed Tuesday with precision long-range rockets hitting the places where they were staying. Hamas' Ismail Haniyeh was in Tehran, where he had attended Masoud Pezeshkian's presidential inauguration hours earlier while Hezbollah's “senior advisor” Fuad Shukr (alias Hajj Mohsin or Muhsin Shukr) reported to leader Hassan Nasrallah, and was wanted by the US for his role in the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in the Lebanese capital.

“Brother leader, martyred fighter Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the movement, died as a result of a Zionist treacherous raid on his residence in Tehran, after participating in the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian president,” confirmed the pro-Palestinian Hamas in a statement. The Qatar-based Haniyeh was said to be the “number one” of Hamas' political bureau. “It is a jihad of victory or martyrdom,” the communiqué added.

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities confirmed the death of Hezbollah's “highest-ranking military commander” and a close advisor to leader Hassan Nasrallah. Israel held Shukr responsible for the deaths of thousands of Israeli civilians over the years and particularly for the 12 children killed last Saturday in a rocket attack on the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Haniyeh was the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip from 2006 until February 2017, when he was replaced by Yahya Sinwar, considered the mastermind of the October 7 attacks and the group's real power with the final say in recent negotiations with Israel for a truce. On May 6, 2017, Haniyeh was elected chairman of Hamas' Political Bureau.

Regarding the strike in Beirut, local media reported an explosion in the Haret Hreik area, although It was unclear whether airplanes or drones were involved. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed they had targeted the person responsible for Saturday’s attack on a village in the Golan Heights “and the killing of numerous additional Israeli civilians.”

According to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Hezbollah had “crossed the red line” with its Majdal Shams attack that killed 12 Israeli Druze children and teenagers when a rocket hit a football pitch. Hezbollah denied any involvement and said that it would respond to any Israeli strike. Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged rocket and drone fire for months, forcing the evacuation of almost 200,000 residents on both sides of the border.

Shukr, who had a US$ 5 million bounty “on his head” according to the United States Rewards for Justice, had been active with Hezbollah for 30 years. He played a central role in the Oct. 23, 1983, bombing of the US Marine Corps Barracks in the Lebanese capital that killed 241 military personnel and wounded 128 others.

Although his death was confirmed by the IDF, independent reporters in the area were unable to establish whether he was one of the two people killed in the strike. Lebanon's state-run national news agency said the strike targeted the area around Hezbollah's Shura Council in Beirut's Haret Hreik neighborhood.