Israel says it has killed top Hezbollah commander
The Israeli military said its fighter jets "eliminated" Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in the area of Beirut on Tuesday, accusing him of being responsible for a rocket strike on the annexed Golan Heights. "Israeli air force fighter jets eliminated the Hezbollah terrorist organisation's most senior military commander and the head of its strategic unit, Fuad Shukr, in the area of Beirut," the military said in a statement. "Fuad Shukr was the commander responsible for the Majdal Shams massacre, in which 12 children were murdered after Hezbollah fired an Iranian Falaq-1 rocket directly at a soccer field in northern Israel on Saturday evening," military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a separate video statement. "Fuad Shukr was the right-hand man to Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader and his advisor in planning and directing attacks and operations." Hagari said Shukr was a "senior terrorist who has the blood of Israelis and many others on his hands". Since the start of the Gaza war, Shukr directed Hezbollah's attacks on Israel, the military said. He was responsible for the majority of Hezbollah's most advanced weaponry, including precise-guided missiles, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, long-range rockets and UAVs, it added. The military said that in the 1990s the Hezbollah commander was "directly involved" in the abduction of the bodies of three Israeli soldiers -- Benyamin Avraham, Adi Avitan and Omar Sawaid. The three were killed by Hezbollah while patrolling the security fence adjacent to Har Dov, the military said. "Since then, he has planned and directed numerous terror attacks against innocent civilians," it said. While Israel wanted to end hostilities without any wider war with Hezbollah, its forces were ready for "any scenario," Hagari said. "Hezbollah's ongoing aggression and brutal attacks are dragging the people of Lebanon and the entire Middle East into a wider escalation," he said. "While we prefer to resolve hostilities without a wider war, the IDF (Israeli army) is fully prepared for any scenario." (AFP)