The Israeli military said on Monday that a targeted overnight strike on the Lebanese capital of Beirut killed Hussein Makled, the head of Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters, following rocket launches from Lebanon into Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the strike was carried out late Sunday and described Makled as a senior operative responsible for leading Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters. “In a precise strike in Beirut last night, the terrorist Hussein Makled was eliminated,” the military said, adding that he played a central role in shaping the group’s intelligence assessments against Israel.
In a formal statement, the military said: “The IDF now confirms that in a precise strike in Beirut last night (Sunday), the terrorist Hussein Moukalled, who served as the head of Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters, has been eliminated.”
The army described Makled as a central figure in Hezbollah’s intelligence apparatus, responsible for gathering and analysing information on Israeli troop movements and strategic targets.
“He was responsible for forming the intelligence picture using various intelligence collection tools to provide the Hezbollah terror organization with intelligence assessments regarding IDF troops and the State of Israel,” the statement said.
The military added that he “closely cooperated with senior commanders in Hezbollah who planned and advanced terror attacks against Israel and its citizens.”
RETALIATION AFTER ROCKET LAUNCHES
The strike came hours after Hezbollah launched rockets toward Israel, in what the group described as retaliation for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, over the weekend.
The Shia Islamist outfit said its attack targeted an Israeli missile-defense facility south of Haifa. The Israeli military said several projectiles fell in open areas and one was intercepted by its air force.
Israel held Hezbollah responsible for the escalation and warned that its leadership would not be immune. The IDF declared Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem a target for elimination.
There was no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah regarding Makled’s death. At least 31 people have been killed and more than 140 have been injured in the Israeli airstrikes targeting southern Lebanon and Beirut so far, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health.
HEZBOLLAH’S ROLE AND LEBANON’S DILEMMA
Hezbollah, founded in 1982 by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, was the only Lebanese faction to retain its weapons after the country’s civil war. It later used those weapons to fight Israeli forces in southern Lebanon until Israel’s withdrawal in 2000.
While the Lebanese army has made progress in clearing weapons caches near the Israeli border under a US-backed ceasefire, Hezbollah has refused to fully disarm, arguing the agreement does not apply nationwide.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam signalled growing domestic pressure on the group.
After a cabinet meeting on Monday, Salam said Lebanon rejected any military action launched from its territory “outside the framework of its legitimate institutions.”
He added that the decision of war and peace is exclusively in the hands of the Lebanese state – a position that necessitates the immediate prohibition of all Hezbollah’s security and military activities as being outside the law, and obliging it to hand over its weapons to the Lebanese state.
(With inputs from agencies)
