Hezbollah military leader Fouad Shokr has died following an Israeli strike on a building near Beirut, the Lebanese Shiite movement confirmed on Wednesday. Its leader Hassan Nasrallah will speak on Thursday.
Published on: 07/31/2024 – 1:01 p.m.Modified on: 07/31/2024 – 9:01 p.m.
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Hezbollah confirmed on Wednesday, July 31, the death of military leader Fouad Chokr, targeted the day before by an Israeli strike which also killed five civilians near Beirut.
A source close to the Lebanese formation had indicated to AFP shortly before that his body had been found under the rubble of the damaged building in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold.
The Israeli army announced on Tuesday evening that it had eliminated Chokr, “the highest military official” of the pro-Iranian group, according to it.
Nearly 24 hours after the strike, Hezbollah announced in a statement the death of “the great fighting leader Fouad Chokr (Sayyed Mohsen), (…) great martyr on the Road to Jerusalem”, an expression used by the party to designate its fighters killed by Israel.
Hassan Nasrallah to speak on Thursday
Hezbollah describes him as one of the “great symbols of the resistance, the creators of its victories (…) those who continued the fight until their last breath.”
The statement said the movement’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, will speak at his funeral on Thursday to express Hezbollah’s position regarding “this violent attack and serious crime.”
Hezbollah says the assassination of Shokr will encourage “his comrades in arms to move forward with determination and courage to preserve the victories and aspirations (…) of this great leader.”
Three women and two children killed
The strike on a building in a densely populated neighborhood also killed five civilians, three women and two children, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The Israeli army holds Fouad Shokr responsible for the deaths of 12 children and teenagers in a rocket attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday. Hezbollah has denied any involvement.
Fouad Chokr was also wanted by the United States, which considers him to be “one of the masterminds” of the attack that killed more than 200 American Marines in Beirut in 1983.
The strike fueled fears that the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas would spread to Lebanon and that there would be a wider conflict in the region.
With AFP
