Israel says its Beirut strike killed Hezbollah’s top military commander, who it blames for Golan Heights attack

Beirut (CNN) — Israel says its strike in Beirut, Lebanon, on Tuesday killed Hezbollah’s most senior military commander, who it blamed for a deadly attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said “Israeli Air Force fighter jets eliminated the Hezbollah terrorist organization’s most senior military commander” Fu’ad Shukr.

At least one other person was killed and several others injured in the strike, according to Lebanese state news agency NNA. The injured, including some with serious wounds, have been taken to nearby hospitals.

Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said “Hezbollah crossed the red line” in a social media post minutes after the Israeli military claimed responsibility for the retaliatory strike on Tuesday. The Iran-backed group has denied being behind the Golan Heights strike three days earlier.

Meanwhile, Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in a separate post on his official X account that “every dog shall have his day.”

The sequence of attacks mark the most significant Israeli escalation since tensions between Israel and Hezbollah flared after October 7.

The IDF said Shukr, also known as al-Hajj Mohsin, “has directed Hezbollah’s attacks on the state of Israel since October 8, and he was the commander responsible for the murder of the 12 children in Majdal Shams in northern Israel on Saturday evening, as well as the killing of numerous Israelis and foreign nationals over the years.”

Shukr is a senior adviser to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and serves in the group’s “highest military body, the Jihad Council,” according to the US government website.

The US State Department has a $5 million reward for information on him. In September 2019, the State Department designated him a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to Executive Order 13224,” more than four years after the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Shukr and two other Hezbollah leaders.

According to a senior Israeli official, Israel wanted to send “a very strong message” with Tuesday’s strike, but hopes to avoid further escalation.

“We don’t want this to escalate into a wider war and ultimately whether this escalates or not very much depends on how Hezbollah reacts now,” the senior Israeli official told CNN.

The Iranian Embassy in Lebanon denounced the Israeli strike on Beirut, calling it “cowardly and sinful Israeli aggression” that “claimed the lives of a number of martyrs and wounded,” in a post on X. The Iran-backed Houthis and Hamas also condemned the strike and declared solidarity with Lebanon.

Scenes of chaos

According to Hezbollah-run Al Manar TV agency, the strike hit the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, a populous area that is a stronghold of the militant group.

Video from Reuters showed the aftermath of the strike in southern Beirut. Emergency responders and bystanders can be seen walking in streets covered in rubble, bricks and other debris near the targeted building. Multiple vehicles parked on one street appear to have been damaged by falling debris from surrounding buildings.

In a video obtained by CNN, huge plumes of smoke can be seen billowing from the area of the strike.

A CNN journalist on the ground saw scenes of chaos as ambulances and fire trucks rushed to the targeted building. The journalist also saw paramedics carrying an injured person on a stretcher.

At least five stories of a section of the targeted building were destroyed in the strike, CNN analysis of images and videos showed.

Aftermath photos and videos analyzed by CNN showed that the strike was directed at the southern section of the building, and that the damage to that section was extensive. Entire concrete slabs are either hanging precariously or have been reduced to what now amounts to a steep cliff of rubble.

A CNN journalist on scene reported there was almost no apparent damage to the surrounding buildings. The windows appear to be largely intact. The shops in the areas also appear untouched by the strike. Lebanese soldiers have cordoned off part of the area around the building.

The targeted building is next to the Bahman Hospital. There were no immediate photos or videos showing damage to the hospital, and it was unclear whether it had been damaged. CNN has been unable to reach the hospital for comment.

Israel vowed earlier this week that Hezbollah would “pay the price” for a rocket attack on a soccer field that killed 12 children and injured 44 people in the town of Majdal Shams near the Syrian and Lebanese borders.

Israel and the United States have said the rocket was fired by Hezbollah forces in Lebanon. Hezbollah denied responsibility for the strike but did say it had fired at Israeli military targets in the area.

A new close-up video emerged Tuesday showing the moment the football pitch was struck. It shows children playing in a small park next to the pitch as sirens start to blare. The youngsters appear anxious but do not initially seek shelter.

Then the sound of the incoming rocket can be heard, quickly becoming deafening, before it smashes into the ground just meters from the camera and appearing to knock the girl holding the phone to the ground. For a split second, the camera captures a huge fireball triggered by the blast.

Children are heard screaming before they run to shelter behind a wall, along with others. “Mom! Mom!” she screams as she runs to safety, as an alarm, perhaps set off by the blast, can be heard. The video ends about 30 seconds after the rocket struck.

Fears of all-out war

The attack Saturday sparked fears that an all-out war could envelop the region.

Israel informed the United States before carrying out the strike, according to a source familiar with the matter. The source said the heads up was conveyed through security channels, but did not say when it was given.

US Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters Tuesday following the strike that “Israel has the right to defend itself” and she supported that right. “But all of that being said, we still must work on a diplomatic solution to end these attacks, and we will continue to do that work,” she added.

The last time Israel struck the Lebanese capital was in January, when it killed a senior figure from Hamas, the Palestinian militant group it has been warring with in Gaza since the October 7 attacks. It was a precise strike that took out an office in a building and caused little other damage.

Tuesday’s attack is of a different caliber, marking the largest Israeli escalation with the powerful militant group since October 8.

Israeli officials said Tuesday its military “will get to any entity responsible for harming our citizens” but added that “Israel isn’t looking to [escalate the situation into] a regional war.”

“As long as the aggression stops and the terrorist threats posed against our citizens are removed, life can go back to normal in [both] Israel and Lebanon,” the Israeli officials said.

The officials also said Israel holds Lebanon responsible for “the strikes conducted from within its territory” and for the group Hezbollah.

Previously, months of tit-for-tat attacks between Israel and Hezbollah had largely been confined to areas near the border between Lebanon and Israel.

On Monday, Lebanon’s foreign minister told CNN that an Israeli attack in the southern suburbs of Beirut, or the international airport, “would surely lead to war.” Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has repeatedly said that any Israeli strike on the Lebanese capital would prompt a Hezbollah attack on Tel Aviv.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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CNN’s Jeremy Diamond, DJ Judd, Ben Wedeman, Hira Humayun, Charbel Mallo, Paul P. Murphy, Jennifer Hansler, Andrew Carey and Tara John contributed reporting.