Israeli army announces assassination of senior Hezbollah commander Nabil Qaouk

CAIRO – 29 September 2024: The Israeli army announced on Sunday the assassination of Nabil Qaouk, chief of Hezbollah's preventive security unit, in a recent airstrike.

Hezbollah, the powerful regional force stationed in Lebanon, has not yet confirmed Qaouk’s death.

The news comes after an Israeli airstrike on Hezbollah’s underground headquarters near Beirut on Friday killed Hassan Nasrallah, the group’s secretary-general.

The assassination of Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader since 1992, along with other group commanders, heightens concerns of imminent further escalation with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday vowing to avenge his killing.

In mid-September, an Israeli intelligence operation involving the detonation of pagers and walkie-talkies across Lebanon killed dozens, including civilians, and injured thousands.

The death toll escalated significantly following subsequent heavy Israeli airstrikes, with 1,030 people, including 56 children, reported killed since the detonations, according to Firass Abiad, Lebanon’s Minister of Public Health, on Saturday.

Since October 2023, Israeli aggression in Lebanon has killed 1,640 individuals and left 8,408 others injured, Abiad added.