The IDF confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that it had struck and killed senior Hezbollah commander Sami Taleb Abdullah.
The military had eliminated the Hezbollah leader in a strike on a Hezbollah command and control center in the area of Jouaiyya in southern Lebanon.
The strike killed at least four people, including the senior Hezbollah field commander, three security sources told Reuters.
The IDF identified Abdullah as the commander of Hezbollah’s Nasr Unit.
“For many years, [Abdullah] planned, advanced, and carried out a large number of terror attacks against Israeli civilians, the IDF stated.
Speaking to Reuters, security officials noted that Abdullah was responsible for the terror organization’s forces in the central region of the southern border strip, comprising some of the towns hardest hit in the last eight months of exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah.
The Hezbollah commander was the most senior member of the group to be killed in eight months of hostilities with Israel, a security source told Reuters.
Who was the Hezbollah official killed?
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the commander’s role in Hezbollah was as significant as that of Wissam Tawil, a senior Hezbollah commander killed in an Israeli strike in January.
Some 300 Hezbollah fighters, including commanders and operatives with key responsibilities, have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon since October, when the Gaza war broke out.
Abdullah was the commander of the “Victory Force,” also known as the “Nader Brigade,” one of three units the terror organization has: Nader, Aziz, and Badar. He served as the unit’s commander since 2016 and was responsible for all forces in the eastern sector of Lebanon.
He was behind the attacks on Kiryat Shmona, Margaliot, Manara, Avivim, Safed, and more since October 7, the arson attacks in the Golan and Galilee in recent weeks, and the launching of the Burkan missiles at Israeli cities and villages. The latest attack he commanded was Tuesday night’s shooting at Kibbutz Kfar Blum.
Abdullah was more than a sector commander. He held his position for many years since in Hezbollah command levels do not change frequently; they specialize in their roles for many years, sometimes over a decade, even two. There are no rotations in Hezbollah command, and members stay in their positions, accumulate power, and essentially everything done under them is influenced by their leadership.
During the Second Lebanon War, he was the brigade commander in Bint Jbeil and led the battles against Golani fighters in Maroun al-Ras and Bint Jbeil. Before that, he led the attempt to kidnap soldiers in the village of Rajar.
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