Israel’s Beirut strike kills top Hezbollah military functionary

Israel on Friday killed Ibrahim Aqil, a top functionary of Lebanon-based Islamic armed group Hezbollah, in airstrikes on Beirut, news agency Reuters has said.

Aqil was killed reportedly when he was holding a meeting in Beirut with Hezbollah members. The Israeli strike killed eight others, along with Aqil, and severely injured 59, according to the Health Ministry of Lebanon.

This is the second serious blow to Hezbollah in the last few days by Israel, after the group’s communications devices were detonated that killed 37 and left over 3,000 severely injured. The Israeli strikes have thrown Hezbollah into a disarray, but there is fear that the war will only escalate with these twin incidents. In July, an Israeli airstrike had killed another of Hezbollah’s top functionary, Faud Shukr.