A day after the death of Hezbollah’s chief Hassan Nasrallah, the Israeli military has claimed responsibility for the death of another top Hezbollah leader, Nabil Kaouk, in a series of airstrikes targeting Beirut.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced the killing of Kaouk, a senior figure within the Iran-backed militant organization, in a statement on X (formerly Twitter). According to the post, Kaouk was eliminated during a precision airstrike orchestrated by Israeli fighter jets, carried out under the guidance of military intelligence.
Nabil Kaouk was a key Hezbollah commander, heading the group’s Preventive Security Unit, and held a prominent position within its Central Council. He was seen as a potential successor to Nasrallah, making him a significant figure in Hezbollah's leadership structure.
Kaouk was a veteran member of Hezbollah going back to the 1980s and had previously served as Hezbollah’s military commander in southern Lebanon. The United States had announced sanctions against him in 2020.
There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah.
Several senior Hezbollah commanders have been killed in Israeli strikes in recent weeks.
The group has also been targeted by a sophisticated attack on its pagers and walkie-talkies, and Israel has carried out waves of airstrikes over the past week across large parts of Lebanon. Hezbollah has continued to fire hundreds of rockets and missiles into northern Israel, but most have been intercepted or fallen in open areas.