According to the Al-Hadath network in Saudi Arabia, Ibrahim Aqil, who was killed on Friday in Beirut along with the top commanders of Hezbollah's elite Radwan unit, will be replaced by his deputy - Ali Reda Abbas. Ali Mussa Daqduq, who previously established a Hezbollah-operated unit on the Syrian Golan Heights will act as his second in command. His son was killed there in an Israeli airstrike.
According to the Saudi outlet, Abbas who is known as Abu Hussein Barish will be named the new commander of the Radwan Force.
The funeral of Ibrahim Aqil and Mahmoud Hamed
Abbas, 60, is from the town of Barish in the region of Tyre in southern Lebanon. He has avoided appearing in the media in photos showing his face despite acting as a spokesperson for the terror group in South Lebanon. According to the Saudi report, both he and Aqil had survived attempts on their lives in the 1990s but there was no indication who was behind those efforts.
Over the years Abbas held numerous military positions, was trained in Iran and was one of Hezbollah's notable operations officers in southern Lebanon.
Al-Daqduq, was accused of kidnapping and killing five American soldiers in Karbala, Iraq in 2007. He returned to Lebanon after being released from prison in 2012 after an Iraqi court acquitted him of involvement in those crimes.
His name made Israeli media outlets when in 2019, the IDF said it had uncovered a Hezbollah unit across the Israel-Syria border on the Golan Heights that was established to carry out attacks against Israel. Al-Daqduq was described as the Lebanese 'Brain' behind the unit, which consisted of Syrian soldiers.
The attack on the predominately Shiite quarter in southern Beirut targeted Aqil and other senior Hezbollah officials from the Radwan Force who were planning an assault on the Galilee, like the one carried out by Hamas on October 7.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, at least 37 people were killed in the attack. According to the IDF, 16 were commanders in the Radwan force. Lebanese media said that three children and seven women were also killed when the buildings were leveled. Rescue efforts were still ongoing.