IDF kills Hezbollah commander behind brutal attack on children's soccer field: officials

close

Video

Israeli military confirms senior Hezbollah commander killed in Beirut strike

Fox News foreign correspondent Trey Yingst has the latest on the response from Israel to the deadly rocket attack on 'Special Report.'

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Tuesday announced the death of Fuad Shukr, the Hezbollah commander who was behind a drone strike that killed 12 children and teens over the weekend.

Shukr, who was also known as Hajj Mohsin, joined Hezbollah in 1985. He was also sought by the U.S. government over his connection to the 1983 suicide bombing of the Marine Corps barracks in Beruit that killed 241 U.S. service members.

Shukr served as a senior adviser to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah at the time of his death in an IDF strike on Tuesday in southern Beirut.

The IDF confirmed the news in a press release, announcing that its fighter jets "eliminated the Hezbollah terrorist organization's most senior military commander [Shukr]" in Lebanon's capital city.

In a statement on Wednesday, Hezbollah confirmed he was in the building when it was hit but didn't say whether Shukr was killed, according to the Times of Israel.

MASSACRE BY IRAN'S TERROR PROXY HEZBOLLAH COULD LEAD TO FULL-BLOWN WAR IN MIDEAST

The IDF said it killed Hezbollah senior commander Fuad Shukr after an airstrike in Beirut on Tuesday. (IDF Spokesman's Unit)

"As the Head of Hezbollah's Strategic Unit, Fuad was responsible for the majority of Hezbollah's most advanced weaponry, including precise-guided missiles, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, long-range rockets, and UAVs," the release said. "He was responsible for force build-up, planning, and execution of terror attacks against the State of Israel."

Recently, Hezbollah killed a dozen children on a soccer field in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in a rocket strike on Saturday. Hezbollah has denied involvement, though the IDF and U.S. military dispute that claim.

The strike infuriated Israeli officials, prompting the IDF to launch missiles at Lebanon shortly after. One missile struck an apartment building next to a hospital in the Haret Hreik neighborhood of Beirut.

US EMBASSY IN LEBANON TELLS AMERICANS TO 'LEAVE BEFORE A CRISIS BEGINS'

People look at damaged cars in Beirut on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A senior Israeli official told Fox News earlier on Tuesday that Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant was in contact with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin regarding the present situation. 

"This was about sending a clear message. We don’t want to see a wider war," the source said. "Now this is in the hands of Hezbollah. Within 24 hours after the rocket attack in the Golan Heights, this response was being discussed among other options."

On X, Gallant said Shukr "has the blood of many Israelis on his hands."

"Tonight, we have shown that the blood of our people has a price and that there is no place out of reach for our forces to this end," he added.

Men walk past debris and a destroyed car after the top floors of a building were destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Tuesday. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., commended the IDF for eliminating Shukr in a statement on X, where he referenced the 1983 attack on the Marine barracks.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"For the families and victims of the 1983 Beirut bombing, THANK YOU Israel," wrote Waltz, an Army veteran. "Semper Fi."

The Associated Press, Reuters and Fox News Digital's Danielle Wallace, Trey Yingst and Gillian Turner contributed to this report.