Israeli government spokesman David Mencer spoke to the media in Tel Aviv on Wednesday (31/7) regarding the killing of senior Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Hezbollah said Wednesday morning that Shukr was in a building that was attacked by Israel.
The Israeli military announced late Tuesday that it had killed Shukr, whom it called Hezbollah's most senior commander, and whom it blamed for an attack last weekend that killed dozens of children in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
On the same occasion, Mencer refused to comment on the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas who was killed in Iran on Wednesday.
“We did target Fuad Shukr. He is the number two in the Hezbollah organization, a cowardly terrorist whose hands are stained with blood, not only Israeli blood, but also the blood of Americans and other citizens,” Mencer said.
“We know that Hezbollah is a unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards of Iran. They are a proxy army. They are fighting us. They are out to destroy us. They say that openly, and we have to do our best to protect our people. That is what we are doing. Regarding Ismail Haniyeh, we do not comment specifically on that incident,” he added.
Meanwhile, Israeli military chief of staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi visited his troops in northern Israel and told military personnel that they believed Shukr was responsible for the killing of 12 children in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday (27/7).
“Yesterday afternoon we had the opportunity to kill Mohsen. Mohsen is the most senior military figure in Hezbollah. He is also very close to Nasrallah (Hezbollah leader), he actually manages all military matters for him, as in the past. This person is responsible for giving all orders. As for the twelve children who were killed on Saturday afternoon in Majdal Shams, we killed them yesterday afternoon in Hagoshrim,” Halevi said. (ns/ab)
