An Israeli strike on south Lebanon on Monday killed a senior commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, three security sources told Reuters.

The security sources identified him as Wissam al-Tawil, the deputy head of a unit within the Radwan force. They said he and another Hezbollah fighter were killed when their car was hit in a strike on the Lebanese village of Majdal Selm.

“This is a very painful strike,” one of the security sources said. Another said, “things will flare up now.”

Israeli bombardment has killed more than 130 Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon since cross-border shelling began in the aftermath of Hamas’s attack on Israeli territory on Oct. 7. Another 19 have been killed in Syria.

Hezbollah’s secretary-general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel in two televised addresses last week not to launch a full-scale war on Lebanon.

  • girlfreddy@lemmy.caOP
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    10 months ago

    Israel is playing a dangerous game here.

    I really have to wonder if they’ve gotten some kind of pre-emptive support from Biden that is making them believe they’ll suffer no harm from retaliatory Lebanese strikes.

    • Bezerker03@lemmy.bezzie.world
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      10 months ago

      Israel has historically wiped the floor with most of these countries even without us aid.

      Never forget they had like 5 countries try to invade in the war of 1948 and they fought back each one and in many cases conquered territory. (Example they had part of Egypt etc and gave it back).

      Granted things have changed a bit but they still maintain a fairly significant military force.

      They aren’t really worried.

      • girlfreddy@lemmy.caOP
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        10 months ago

        Israel has never been alone since the day it became a nation.

        … having the backing of America, specifically militarily, has led Israel to “a great success story,” helping it survive wars that broke out in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973. Source

        The U.S. has given Israel $158 billion since Israel was founded, not adjusting for inflation, according to the Congressional Research Service. That makes Israel one of the biggest recipients of U.S. foreign aid since World War II. Source

        Between 2001 and 2020, Israel received more military aid from the US than all other nations combined. Source