By Abiola Olawale
The Israeli military has claimed that it has been able to kill another senior official of a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party, Hezbollah, identified as Nabil Qaouk.
Qaouk was said to be a strong official of the group and is part of the group’s Central Council.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in a statement issued on Sunday, revealed that Qaouk was killed in an air raid that occurred on Saturday.
The IDF said: “The Commander of Hezbollah’s Preventative Security Unit and a member of their Executive Council, Nabil Qaouk, was eliminated in a precise IDF strike.
“Qaouk was close to Hezbollah’s senior commanders and was directly engaged in terrorist attacks against the State of Israel and its citizens.
“He joined Hezbollah in the 1980s and was regarded as an important source of expertise in his field, having served as the Deputy Commander of the southern region on the Operational Council, Commander of the southern region and Deputy Commander of the Operational Council.
“The IDF will continue to strike and eliminate the commanders within the Hezbollah terrorist organization and will act against anyone who threatens the citizens of the State of Israel.”
Qaouk was one of the top officers of Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon, a region that has been a focal point in Hezbollah’s confrontations.
He was both a general and deputy head of the executive council, attesting to his influence in both political and military factions of Hezbollah.
On 22 October 2020, Qaouk was designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). This designation implies U.S. government sanctions against him due to alleged involvement in terrorism-related activities.
His reported killing comes after Israel recently killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and reportedly taking out most of the organisation’s military leadership.
Israel earlier carried out a bombing raid on a Hezbollah compound in Beirut, killing Nasrallah.
