The damage caused by the Israeli strike in Ghobeyri, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, on Sept. 24, 2024. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient-Le Jour)
The Israeli military said that "air force fighter jets eliminated on Tuesday in the southern suburbs of Beirut Ibrahim Mohammad Qobeissy, the commander of the missile and rocket network of the terrorist organization Hezbollah."
At least six people were killed and 15 others injured in the strike, according to a provisional report from the Health Ministry.
According to the Israeli military, Qobeissy "commanded several missile units" within Hezbollah, including "the precision-guided missile unit."
"Over the years and during the war, he was responsible for launching missiles at Israeli civilians. He was also an important source of missile knowledge and maintained close ties with senior Hezbollah military officials," it said.
Other commanders eliminated
Qobeissy joined the party in the 1980s and held several military positions, including that of the head of the Badr Unit, which is in charge of one of Hezbollah's three zones of operations in southern Lebanon, according to the Israeli army. It also said that "other central commanders of Hezbollah's missile and rocket force" had been eliminated.
Contacted by L'Orient-Le Jour, Hanin Ghaddar, a researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, acknowledged that "we don't know much" about Ibrahim Qobeissy, as Hezbollah's military commanders do not have a "public profile."
An AFP photographer at the scene of the strike reported that the attack destroyed two floors of a building in a densely populated residential area. Dozens of cars and mopeds parked in a garage were damaged, as were nearby buildings and power lines.
The strike comes a day after a similar raid targeting a Hezbollah official in the southern suburbs left no one dead. The commander, Ali Karaki, escaped the strike, according to Hezbollah.
On Monday, intense Israeli strikes hit southern and eastern Lebanon, killing 558 people, according to Lebanese authorities, the heaviest toll since the end of the civil war in Lebanon (1975-90).
The attacks came after several major blows to Hezbollah in the past week: Deadly explosions hit the party's communications equipment, killing 39 and wounding hundreds, and an Israeli strike that killed 55 people wiped out part of the leadership of its elite Radwan Force, including its leader Ibrahim Aqil.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.