Zeinab Aqil during the interview. (Credit: YouTube/LebanonOn)
Comments made by the daughter of a senior Hezbollah military commander killed in September 2024, Ibrahim Aqil, have sparked a wave of backlash on social media.
In a recent interview with LebanonOn, Zeinab Aqil — introduced by the outlet as a journalist, researcher and writer — said she would "consider carrying out a suicide attack at a location — a dam, barracks — where those conspiring against us gather."
A clip of her remarks, widely shared on social media and picked up by international outlets such as Sky News Arabia, further quoted her as saying: "There will be many who will act like me."
Reactions poured in across platforms, especially on the Instagram account of Sky News Arabia. Some users labeled her a “terrorist,” while others urged her to redirect her threats toward Syria or Iran. Some defended her, saying her remarks were taken out of context and not meant as a literal call to violence.
Her father was a senior Hezbollah military commander and previously led the group’s elite al-Radwan unit. He was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sept. 20, 2024, alongside several other top figures.
His death occurred just days after an explosion involving pagers — an operation claimed by Israel’s Mossad — and shortly before the escalation of the Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon, which began Oct. 8, 2023. It also preceded the assassination of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on Sept. 27, 2024.
"Hezbollah will never surrender its arms"
In the 50-minute interview, which Aqil also shared on her personal accounts, she discusses what she describes as a difficult period for Hezbollah following its war with Israel. Despite severe losses, she claimed the group remains "victorious" because it preserved its organizational structure, even if the broader "Resistance Axis" still faces questions about how it will recover.
"But if, God forbid, Hezbollah is cornered in Lebanon, for one reason or another, I would then consider carrying out a suicide attack against a place where those who had conspired against us are located — and I won’t be the only one," Aqil said. "The entire Shiite community — men, women, youth — would then become a time bomb, and we would all be suicide attackers."
Throughout the interview, Aqil repeatedly refers to resistance against "the Israeli enemy," but she does not specify who she means by "those who conspire against us," leaving the target of her threat vague. Her comments appeared more hypothetical than declarative.
She also reiterated Hezbollah’s core messaging on the group’s weapons, insisting they are strictly for self-defense and claiming that Hezbollah would continue acquiring arms regardless of political developments.
"Even if the party’s leaders decided to abandon them, the population would replace them and continue the armed struggle," she said. She also argued that the group’s resilience in the most recent conflict was a more significant achievement than its 2006 war with Israel, given what she described as more extensive efforts to dismantle it.
Echoes of previous controversy
Aqil’s remarks mirror other controversial statements by Hezbollah officials. Last weekend, a video emerged from July 6 Ashura commemorations showing Faisal Shukur, Hezbollah’s deputy official for the Bekaa, threatening the group’s opponents.
“To those inside the country who keep repeating the word ‘disarmament,’ we have two words for you: we will rip out your souls,” Shukur said. “Because anything can be the subject of joking, discussion, or dialogue — except for weapons.”
His remarks prompted a legal response from Kataeb party leader Samy Gemayel, who filed a complaint against Shukur.
