Photo: Alamy
The Israel Defense Forces said Friday it killed senior Hezbollah commander Ali Musa Daqduq in a targeted strike in southern Lebanon, accusing him of orchestrating the 2007 kidnapping and killing of five American soldiers in Iraq.
The Israeli military said Daqduq was killed south of the Litani River during what it described as a precise operation.
“ELIMINATED: Ali Musa Daqduq, a senior Hezbollah commander who held a series of 5 senior positions within Hezbollah,” the IDF wrote on social media.
“In 2007, he orchestrated the kidnapping and murder of 5 American soldiers,” the military added.
Israeli officials said Daqduq held several senior roles within Hezbollah over the years, including serving as commander of security for slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, a commander in the Radwan Force, and head of Hezbollah’s infantry unit.
The IDF also said he led Hezbollah’s “Golan Terrorist Network,” which Israel says helped establish military infrastructure near its border through operations in Syria.
“His elimination constitutes another significant blow to Hezbollah’s senior chain of command,” the IDF said in a statement.
Daqduq was captured by U.S. forces in Iraq in 2007 but was transferred to Iraqi custody in 2011 during the U.S. withdrawal under former President Barack Obama. Iraqi courts later dismissed charges against him, and he was released in 2012.
The announcement came as Israel carried out additional strikes in Beirut’s Dahieh district, targeting what it described as Hezbollah infrastructure.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said the strikes were ordered in response to Hezbollah attacks on Israeli territory.
“Israel will not tolerate fire into its territory,” the two leaders said in a joint statement.
The renewed fighting comes as the United States continues pushing for a broader regional agreement involving Iran and Hezbollah.