IDF eliminates another Hezbollah commander, only recently elevated to top position under Nasrallah

The IDF announced that it had killed Ibrahim Qubaisi (Abu Musa), the head of Hezbollah's missile and rocket force, in a targeted attack in Beirut's Dahiyeh district on Tuesday afternoon.

According to the IDF spokesperson, Qubaisi was accompanied by other key commanders in Hezbollah's "Missiles and Rockets Force" at the time of the strike. According to Lebanese news sites, at least six people were reported killed and 15 wounded in the attack that killed Qubaisi. 

Later on Tuesday evening, the IDF released an official statement announcing Qubaisi's death and his connection to the deaths of three IDF soldiers around 24 years ago. 

“The terrorist Ibrahim Muhammad Qubaisi, Head of Hezbollah's Missiles and Rockets Force, who was eliminated by the IDF today (Tuesday), planned the abduction terror attack in Mount Dov in the 2000s, in which Staff Sergeant Benyamin (Benny) Avraham, Staff Sergeant Adi Avitan and Staff Sergeant Omar Sawaid were abducted and killed. They were brought back to Israel for burial in 2004.”

Qubaisi joined Hezbollah in the 1980s and held several significant military roles within the terror group, including as a senior officer in Hezbollah's Operations Unit in southern Lebanon and commanding the Badr Unit on Hezbollah’s Southern Front. More recently, he commanded several missile units within Hezbollah, including the precision-guided missile unit.

Following the recent eliminations of several high-level officers, Qubaisi was recently appointed to a command position directly under Hezbollah Sec.-Gen Hassan Nasrallah, according to reports in Hebrew media. 

During the border conflict, Qubaisi was responsible for launching rockets at the Israeli home front. 

An anonymous government source told Ynet News, “The strategy is to change the balance of power in the north.” 

The source said that neither the military nor the political echelon are interested in “an all-out war.” Rather, the source said that the goal is “to strengthen deterrence vis-à-vis Hezbollah and make it possible for us to safely return the residents of the north to their homes, and to deter the entire Iranian axis – first and foremost Iran itself.”  

On Tuesday evening, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) conducted a number of extensive strikes on dozens of terror targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the area of Bekaa and several different areas in southern Lebanon. 

Guided by IDF intelligence, the IAF struck and dismantled Hezbollah infrastructure where weapons were being stored, as well as dozens of launchers that were aimed toward Israel, following rocket fire from the area of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon. 

The IDF said it would “continue operating to dismantle and degrade Hezbollah's capabilities and terrorist infrastructure.”