West Asia crisis: Hezbollah’s HQ commander Suhail Hussein killed in Beirut strikes, claims IDF

The Israeli Army said Tuesday (Oct 8) it killed another senior Hezbollah commander in strikes on Beirut, the Lebanese capital.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) saidit took outthe commander of Hezbollah’s headquarters, Suhail Hussein Husseini.

The statement comes a day after the IDF launched strikes on over 100 targets in southern Lebanon on Monday, using over 100 aircraft.

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Husseini played a “crucial role in weapon transfers between Iran and Hezbollah and was responsible for distributing the advanced weaponry among Hezbollah’s units”, the statement said. He was also a member of the Jihad Council, Hezbollah’s senior military leadership council, the Israeli statement added.

Husseini’s death, if confirmed,would be another major setback for the Lebanon-based group, which has already lost its topmost leader Hassan Nasrallah on a strike on Hezbollah's headquarters on Sep 27.

Israel's strategy is toinflictmajor blows by assassinating leaders and commanders of Hezbollah and its ally Hamas, which has been fighting Israel in Gaza for a year.

Iran drops new warning

News agency Reuters quotedIran’s Foreign MinisterAbbas Araghchi as saying Tuesday morning that his nation was fully prepared to retaliate to any Israeli attack in response to the Iranian missile attack on the Jewish nation.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that Tehran’s military had prepared at least ten scenarios preparing for an expected Israeli attack.Araghchi said any attack on Iran's infrastructure will be met with strong retaliation.

"Iran’s response will not be necessarily reciprocation at the same level of the Israelis’ action, but it may be harsher and aim for different targets that would intensify the effectiveness of the response,” Iranian state media quoted a senior official as saying.

(With inputs from agencies)