The Israeli Military Operational Opportunity to Target Hezbollah Superior Radwan Force in Beirut

Taking advantage of a tight “operational opportunity,” an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Friday attacked a gathering of the elite Radwan Force, killing IDF’s top Hezbollah, target Ibrahim Aqil. The Jerusalem Post stated that the strike happened in a parking area in the Dahieh neighborhood where about twenty commanders were meeting for talks.

It is reported that the meeting took place on the parking structure’s second subterranean level. Four missiles were deployed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to carry out the strike, which seriously damaged the building’s structural integrity and caused the floor where the meeting was held to collapse. There are claims that this IDF operation was organized in response to information that suggested senior officials, including Ibrahim Aqil, were gathering in a subterranean site.

Following immediate intelligence, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi—who was at the time visiting northern Israel—approved the operation. The attack was deemed a “necessary opportunity for execution” by Israeli security officials, who also highlighted its strategic importance in the ongoing fight with Hezbollah. “A spokesperson for the IDF stated in a post on X that during the strike, Aqil and the commanders of the Radwan Forces were gathered underground under a residential building in the center of the Dahiyah neighborhood, hiding among Lebanese civilians, using them as human shields.”