Israel’s military said Tuesday it carried out a strike on Beirut targeting the terror commander allegedly behind the deaths of 12 children and teens in a rocket attack on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights over the weekend.

“Hezbollah crossed a red line,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant posted on the platform X shortly after Tuesday’s strike.

The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not immediately release a statement, but minutes after the strike sent a photo of the prime minister with his national security advisor and other officials.

Multiple media outlets report that the Hezbollah commander targeted in the recent Israeli airstrike in Beirut is Fuad Shukr, also known as Hajj Mohsin. Shukr is a senior adviser to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Al Arabiya and Al Hadath Arabic news stations report that Fuad Shukr was killed, and his body is being held in a secure hospital. This contradicts earlier reports that he had left the area before the airstrike.

A senior Israeli official informed Kan News that the Israeli government believes Shukr was killed in the strike, though they have not yet received final confirmation.

Several years ago, the IDF identified Shukr as a commander of Hezbollah’s precision missile project. He is also wanted by the United States for his involvement in the 1983 bombing of a US Marines barracks in Beirut.

According to the US State Department’s Rewards for Justice program, Fuad Shukr, also known as Hajj Mohsin, is a senior military adviser to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and a member of Hezbollah’s top military body, the Jihad Council.

The State Department states that Shukr played a “central role” in the 1983 bombing of the US Marine Corps barracks, which resulted in the deaths of 241 US Marines. During the Syrian civil war, Shukr supported Hezbollah fighters and pro-Syrian regime troops in their battles against anti-Assad forces, as reported by the State Department.

The US has placed a $5 million bounty on Shukr’s head.

A Hezbollah official and the group’s TV station said that an Israeli airstrike hit Hezbollah’s stronghold south of Beirut on Tuesday evening, causing damage.

The airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburb of Haret Hreik damaged several buildings but it was not immediately clear if any Hezbollah official was hit, the Hezbollah official said on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The strike hit an apartment building next to a hospital, collapsing half of the targeted building. The hospital sustained minor damages, while the surrounding streets were littered with debris and broken glass.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)