The IDF strike that killed ten Radwan Force commanders, including Ibrahim Aqil, on Friday was during a meeting with 20 commanders from the Hezbollah special operations forces in a parking lot in the Dahieh neighborhood of Beirut.
The meeting comprised of the exact number of commanders was initially reported by Al Jazeera, which also reported that the meeting was in the second underground level of the parking lot and that the IDF strike was carried out with four missiles that caused the structure to collapse, reaching the floor where the meeting was taking place.
The entire meeting lasted only a few hours, according to Army Radio. This was not a long-planned assassination but rather the exploitation of an “operational opportunity” when intelligence came in about Aqil and the senior leaders gathering in an underground operational apartment.
Despite the complexity of striking an underground apartment, once the intelligence came in, the IAF quickly planned the operation. The assassination was immediately relayed to IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, who was visiting the northern region at the time. Halevi approved the strike and submitted it for political approval.
Strike was “a necessary opportunity”
The attack was defined by a Maariv report as a “necessary opportunity for execution.” The political leadership approved, and so the strike was carried out.
Maariv quoted Israeli security officials saying that “Nasrallah is now left without the two most important people who sat beside him in every situation assessment. When we talk about a ‘new phase in the war,’ this is exactly what we mean. Beirut used to be the red line – now, there are no more red lines.”
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