Hezbollah commander survives Israeli strike

Israel struck Hezbollah’s stronghold in southern Beirut yesterday in retaliation for rocket fire from Lebanon that killed 12 children over the weekend, saying it had targeted the commander responsible for the attack.
A source close to the Iran-backed militant group confirmed that “a leading commander” was the target of the strike, which hit near the group’s decision making body, the Shura Council.
The source added that two people were killed in the strike, but was unable to confirm if the commander was among them.

However, another source close to Hezbollah said that senior commander Fuad Shukr, who is leading the group’s operations against Israel in south Lebanon, survived the Israeli strike in the group’s southern Beirut
stronghold.

Shukr, “who goes by the nom de guerre Mohsen Shukr, survived the Israeli strike,” the source told AFP, requesting anonymity.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had on Monday threatened a “severe response” to the attack which Israel and the US have blamed on Hezbollah, though the group denies responsibility.

Following Saturday’s strike, the international community had raced to head off any escalation that might tip the two into a first all-out conflict since 2006.
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said on Monday he had received assurances from international diplomats that there would be only a limited response.