Israeli Strike in South Lebanon Kills Senior Hezbollah Commander Ali Moussa Dakdouk

Israeli forces said they killed Ali Moussa Dakdouk in southern Lebanon on Saturday, describing him as a senior Hezbollah commander and one of the organization’s key operational figures. The military said he had held several posts in Hezbollah and had been a major source of operational expertise, with years of experience directing attacks against Israel and Israeli forces.

According to the report, Dakdouk previously served as head of the security team for Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, as a commander in the Radwan Force, as an operations officer in the Nasser Unit, and as head of Hezbollah’s infantry branch. He also commanded the so-called Golan Portfolio, the operational arm responsible for the group’s entrenchment in Syria and for building military infrastructure near Israel’s border. Israel said that unit was exposed in 2019.

The article says Dakdouk had led most of Hezbollah’s combat procedures against Israeli forces in recent years. It also states that in 2007 he was imprisoned by the United States after taking part in the kidnapping and killing of five American soldiers. The text links him to a 2007 attack against U.S. troops and notes that he had been the subject of a $5 million bounty.

The Israeli military called the killing a significant strike against another senior Hezbollah commander and said it was an important “closing of the circle” against a key figure behind attacks on Israeli civilians, Israeli forces and American soldiers. The army added, “Our forces will continue to target Hezbollah commanders.”