Israel army says killed deputy head of elite Hezbollah force
Intelligence-directed strike 'struck and eliminated Mustafa Ahmad Shahadi'
Jerusalem: The Israeli army said on Wednesday it had killed the deputy head of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force, Mustafa Ahmad Shahadi, in a strike in the Nabatieh area of south Lebanon.
"In an intelligence-directed strike, the Israeli air force struck and eliminated Mustafa Ahmad Shahadi, deputy commander of Hezbollah's Radwan Forces, in the area of Nabatieh," the army said in a statement, adding that Shahadi had previously run Radwan operations in Syria and overseen "terror attacks in southern Lebanon".
The IDF said that Shahadi “advanced numerous terror attacks against the State of Israel” and his elimination is “part of the effort to degrade Hezbollah’s Radwan Forces’ capabilities to direct and execute terror activities against IDF troops and communities in the northern border, in particular the ‘Conquer the Galilee’ plan.”
The Radwan Force is believed to have planned to invade northern Israel, in a Hezbollah plot that ultimately did not materialize.
Previously, Shahadi was head of Radwan operations during fighting in Syria between 2012 and 2017.
"The Radwan unit is the elite unit of the Hezbollah terrorist organization whose goal is to infiltrate into Israeli territory and occupy areas near the northern border. The IDF will continue to operate against the terrorists and commanders of the Hezbollah terrorist organization and any threat posed to the citizens of Israel," the IDF said.