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according to cctv news, in the early morning of the 21st local time, hezbollah in lebanon issued an obituary confirming that its senior commander ibrahim aqil was killed in the israeli army's attack on the 20th.

in this operation, the israeli military dispatched fighter jets to launch a "targeted attack" in the southern suburbs of beirut. this was the first time that the israeli military launched an air strike on a densely populated area in a central city since the escalation of the conflict between lebanon and israel. at the same time, hezbollah in lebanon also launched a long-range attack on military targets in northern israel. israel claimed to have intercepted "some of the incoming missiles."

the life of aqil, the senior hezbollah official targeted by the israeli army, is relatively mysterious, and the united states has limited intelligence on him. however, it is certain that aqil commanded two truck bombings that shocked the world in 1983, killing and injuring a large number of american diplomats and marines, and even became a major figure in world war ii.battle of iwo jimasinceunited states marine corpsthe highest number of casualties in a single day.

in 2015, the u.s. treasury department designated akil as a "terrorist." in 2023, the u.s. state department announced a $7 million reward for information leading to his arrest.

israelactively escalate the situation

international relations expert: the war is unfolding before our eyes

"israel has switched from a defensive posture to an offensive posture. there is no need to ask when the war will come, it is already unfolding before our eyes." this is karim el mufti, professor of international relations at sciences po paris, who commented on the israeli army's "targeted strike" operation. in his view, the two countries have escalated from the initial border conflict to a "strategic war of attrition", mainly because israel has caused collateral damage to thousands of civilians in the explosion of communication equipment and "targeted strikes", greatly expanding the scope of military operations.

mufti believes that hezbollah in lebanon has been forced into a desperate situation by israel because hezbollah does not want a full-scale war, but must also seek revenge. "however, what kind of response can match israel's attack?"

data from the lebanese ministry of health showed that the israeli army's attack destroyed a 10-story apartment building. so far, 14 people have been killed and 66 injured. as the rubble clearing work progresses, the casualties are expected to continue to rise.

beirut's fire department said a large number of manpower has been deployed for rescue. relatives and friends of the residents of the apartment building anxiously waited at the scene, waiting for news of their loved ones. an elderly woman named hassan said she didn't know whether her daughter was alive. "i went to st. george hospital and st. theresa hospital, but no one knew where my daughter was. i just want to know where my daughter is?"

▲photo of the attack scene from visual china

a member of the civil defense medical team said that the work of clearing the rubble was very difficult. "i didn't know whether the people buried underneath were dead or alive. i could only dig desperately, shovel by shovel. i rescued a living person from the rubble before, and later we found his wife, but she had become a corpse."

israeli defense ministry spokesman garidan said that the israeli army's actions were not aimed at civilians, "but hezbollah commanders hid in civilian houses and used civilians as human shields to protect themselves."

aguilera:

he had planned bombings of us embassies and military camps

according to sources from the israeli security department, aqil was born in a village in the bekaa valley in lebanon around 1960. in his early years, he joined the amal movement, a shiite-led movement in lebanon, and later joined hezbollah as a founding member. under aqil's leadership, hezbollah has grown from a small militia to a powerful military and political organization.

in 2000, hezbollah's continued attacks forced israel to withdraw its troops from the "safe zone" in southern lebanon, and hezbollah's cross-border attacks in 2006 also triggered the war between israel and lebanon.

the united states has been accusing aguilar of participating in the truck bombing of the u.s. embassy in beirut in april 1983. in october of that year, aguilar planned the bombing of the u.s. marine corps barracks, both of which caused huge casualties.

▲the destroyed u.s. embassy in lebanon in 1983

according to the data, on the afternoon of april 18, 1983, a suicide bomber drove a heavy truck through the gate and rushed into the u.s. embassy in lebanon. the truck was loaded with nearly 2,000 pounds (about 900 kilograms) of bombs. the explosion resounded throughout western beirut, shattering windows a mile away. the central facade of the u.s. embassy building was completely destroyed. the explosion killed a total of 63 people and prompted then-u.s. president reagan to speed up his plan to withdraw troops from lebanon.

on october 23 of that year, in order to protest the united states' meddling in the affairs of the middle east, two suicide attack trucks broke into the un peacekeeping force stationed area and crashed into the us marine corps camp and the french paratrooper camp not far away. the incident caused the deaths of 241 us soldiers, including 220 marines, and 58 french soldiers. in addition, 6 civilians, tourists, vendors, etc. in the surrounding area were killed and many people were injured.

data shows that this incident is the largest single-day casualties suffered by the us marine corps since the battle of iwo jima in world war ii. if the deaths of us navy and army soldiers are included, this is the largest single-day casualties suffered by the us armed forces after the first day of the tet offensive in the vietnam war.

according to intelligence from the us state department, aqil has become a "key leader" of hezbollah, and his position is ranked among the top three in the entire hezbollah. us intelligence also believes that aqil was involved in planning the kidnapping of american and german hostages in the 1980s. in order to capture this "terrorist" defined by the us state department, the us has offered a $7 million reward for clues.

washington-based hezbollah expert ghaddar said that aqil's death was the "heaviest blow" hezbollah had suffered since 2008. ghaddar speculated that the previous explosion of communication equipment had caused serious damage to hezbollah's command system, prompting hezbollah's top brass to hold a meeting on the 20th to discuss emergency countermeasures, which may have laid the groundwork for aqil's attack.

red star news reporter zheng zhi compiled cctv news and other news

editor zhang xun responsible editor deng feiguang