Israel attacks top commanders of IRGC’s Quds Force in Beirut hotel, five killed
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Israel attacks top commanders of IRGC’s Quds Force in Beirut hotel, five killed")
First aid responders inspect a Ramada Hotel room targeted by an Israeli strike in Beirut on March 8. Photograph: (AFP)
The key commanders of the Quds Force were in a hotel in the Raouche district of central Beirut when they were attacked after midnight. The Israeli forces said steps were taken prior to the strike to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance.
The Israeli forces conducted a targeted, precision strike on a hotel room in central Beirut overnight on Sunday and said that five top commanders in the Lebanese Quds Force were killed. The IDF said the targeted commanders in the Lebanese Corps of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards “operated to advance terror attacks against Israel and its civilians, while also operating for the IRGC in Iran.”
The Quds Force commanders were in a hotel in the Raouche district of central Beirut when they were attacked after midnight. The attack targeted one of the rooms in the hotel. The IDF identified the five killed commanders as Majid Hassini, a senior moneyman in the Lebanon Corps, who the IDF says was responsible for transferring funds from Iran to proxy groups in Lebanon, including Hezbollah and Hamas; Ali Reza Bi-Azar, chief of intelligence in the Lebanon Corps; Ahmad Rasouli, chief of intelligence in the Palestine Corps; Hossein Ahmadlou, a lower-ranking intelligence operative in the Lebanon Corps; and Abu Muhammad Ali, Hezbollah’s representative in the Palestine Corps.
Lebanon said that four were killed and 10 injured in the attack and that security forces blocked access to the area.
The IDF added that due steps were taken prior to the strike to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance.
The IDF spokesperson’s office said, “The IDF conducted a precise strike targeting key commanders in the IRGC’s Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps who operated in Beirut. The commanders of the Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps operated to advance terror attacks against the state of Israel and its civilians, while operating simultaneously for the IRGC in Iran.”
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The IDF statement added that the Iranian terror regime operates systemically in the heart of the civilian population in Iran and Lebanon, cynically exploiting the civilian population as human shields to advance terror attacks.
“The Lebanon Corp connects the Hezbollah terrorist organization and the Iranian terror regime, supports Hezbollah force-building, and functions as the connection between senior IRGC personnel and Hezbollah leadership.”
The strike was on the Ramada Hotel in central Beirut, the first such attack in the heart of the Lebanese capital since Hezbollah started attacking Israel in response to Operation Roaring Lion against Iran.
The hotel was housing displaced people fleeing the war in southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs.
The IDF said earlier that it had launched a new “wave of strikes” against Beirut, saying it was targeting the southern suburbs of the capital, a stronghold of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah group.
The Lebanese government has also slammed Hezbollah for its renewed attacks on Israel, accusing it of dragging Lebanon into a regional war.
