Beirut, Lebanon. Israel carries out a targeted strike with two F-35 jets against a safehouse where a meeting of Hezbollah (the “Party of God”) high command is taking place. The victims number 45, including 32 civilians and at least 13 members of Hezbollah’s high command, the group’s elite and military leadership, including Ibrahim Aqil. Aqil, in addition to being an Israeli target for attacks on Israel, also has a $7 million bounty on his head from the U.S. government for the April 1983 massacre at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, killing 63 people, and for the killing of 241 Marines in Lebanon on October 23, 1983. Ibrahim Aqil had just been released from the hospital recovering from injuries sustained in the pager attack a few days earlier. Other elite Hezbollah casualties include Hassan Hussein, commander of the Aziz Regional Division’s special forces; Samer Halawi, commander of the Coastal Region; Abbas Muslimani, commander of the Qana Region; Abdullah Hijazi, commander of the Ramim Ridge Region; Muhammad Reda, commander of the Khiam Region; Hassan Madi, commander of the Mount Dov Region; Hassan Abd al-Satar, chief of operations; Hussein Hadraj, chief of staff; Mohammad al-Attar, commander of the training department; and Mahmoud Hamad, a senior operations officer.
