Illustrative image (The Israeli Defense Forces)
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said on September 29 that it had killed Nabil Qaouk, the commander of Hezbollah’s “preventive security unit” and a senior member of the group’s central council.
In a statement, the military said that Qaouk was considered to be close to Hezbollah’s leadership, “and was directly involved in advancing terror attacks against the State of Israel and its citizens, even in recent days.” He had joined Hezbollah in the 1980s, and previously served as a deputy head, and later the head of the southern Lebanon area in the executive council, as well as the deputy of the executive council.
Israeli fighter jets struck and killed Qaouk in Dahieh, the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital of Beirut, a known Hezbollah stronghold, last night, according to the IDF.
News of Qaouk’s death was first broken by Lebanese media late on September 28. However, Hezbollah has not yet officially mourned the commander.
Israel has so far managed to assassinate several senior members of Hezbollah. Most of the assassinations took place in the last ten days after the IDF escalated its strikes against Lebanon to a level not seen since the war of 2006. The group’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah was killed in a strike that targeted Dahieh on September 27.
So far, Hezbollah has limited its response to strikes on northern Israel. Nevertheless, further escalation appears to be unavoidable.
All in all, the confrontation between Hezbollah and IDF that broke out last October as a result of the war in the Gaza Strip has so far resulted in 26 civilian deaths in Israel and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights as well as the deaths of at least 22 soldiers and security officers. On the Lebanese side, at least 1,640 people have been killed, including more than 500 members of Hezbollah.
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