Just in: Lebanon holds funeral for assassinated Hezbollah military leader

Hundreds of Hezbollah supporters have gathered for the burial of the assassinated commander Ibrahim Aqil.

His lovers are waving the Palestinian, Lebanese, Iranian and Hezbollah flags with a song about “being martyred on the way of Jerusalem” being played.

The senior Hezbollah commander was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, on Friday.

He led the Radwan Force, Hezbollah‘s special forces unit responsible for cross-border attacks on Israel.

Aqil, in his 60s, joined Hezbollah shortly after its formation in the 1980s and steadily rose through the ranks. The U.S. government had previously offered a multi-million dollar reward for information leading to his capture, due to his involvement in the 1983 bombings of the U.S. embassy in Beirut, which killed 63 people. He also oversaw the attack on the U.S. Marine Corps barracks that left 241 U.S. personnel dead.

Hezbollah referred to Aqil as one of its “great jihadist leaders.”

Aqil was injured in the pager explosions on Tuesday and was discharged from the hospital earlier on Friday, just hours before being killed in the Israeli strike on a meeting of Hezbollah commanders.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah has vowed to avenge Aqil’s death, as the conflict between it and Israel escalates.

Hezbollah fired 150 missiles into Israel, most of which were intercepted, according to the Israeli military.

Some residential buildings in Haifa, northern Israel, were hit, sparking fires and causing injuries.

Hezbollah’s missile strikes reached further south in Israel than any previous attacks since the conflict began on 8 October 2023.