Topline
The Israeli Defense Force said Sunday it killed Nabil Kaouk, commander of Hezbollah’s preventative security unit, news that comes just one day after the IDF announced it killed a major Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in a strike.
A portrait of late Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah sits amid destruction in a area targeted … [+]
Key Facts
The IDF said in a post on X Kaouk—who it described as being “close to Hezbollah’s senior leaders” and “directly engaged in terrorist attacks”—was killed in “a precise IDF strike.”
Kaouk was on Hezbollah’s executive council, was the commander of the southern region and was the deputy commander of the operational council, the IDF said in the announcement.
Kaouk was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in 2020 for being a Hezbollah leader and “implementing the terrorist organization’s destabilizing and violent agenda against U.S. interests and those of our partners around the world.”
Hezbollah confirmed Kaouk’s death, CNN reported, saying in a statement he was killed in an Israeli raid on the outskirts of Beirut.
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News Peg
Kaouk’s death was reported one day after the IDF announced Nasrallah’s death. Israeli leaders had reportedly been tracking Nasrallah’s whereabouts for months before the strike, and he was killed in a strike targeting Hezbollah’s “central headquarters” in southern Beirut. Nasrallah was Hezbollah’s secretary general for 32 years, the New York Times reported, and supported Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, strike on Israel. After his death, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on X, “Nasrallah was not just another terrorist, he was the terrorist,” adding: “As long as Nasrallah was alive, he would have quickly rebuilt the capabilities we took from Hezbollah.” In response to news of Narallah’s death, Iran said the attack “will not go unanswered” and said the U.S. was “complicit in the crime,” NBC News reported.
Key Background
Hezbollah supported Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and orchestrated an attack of its own the following day “in solidarity” with Hamas. The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has gotten significantly more intense in recent weeks as more than 600 have been killed and 2,000 injured in Lebanon, according to the Associated Press. Israel has largely been targeting southern Lebanon and Beirut, trying to “strike and eliminate” Hezbollah’s leadership. Meanwhile, Hezbollah has been launching strikes into Israel, sending a missile last week into Tel Aviv targeting the headquarters of Israel’s intelligence agency—though Israel claimed to have intercepted it. As the war between the two continues, other countries including the U.S. have expressed concern about it expanding to a broader conflict. As of Wednesday, there were about 40,000 U.S. troops stationed in the Middle East as concerns of a broader conflict grew.
What To Watch For
A ground invasion into Lebanon. Israel has reportedly been considering a potential ground invasion, and two unnamed U.S. officials told ABC News Sunday small-scale border operations may have begun or are about to begin, saying Israel hasn’t yet decided on launching a full-scale invasion.
Big Number
7. That’s how many Hezbollah senior leaders have been killed in the last couple of weeks, multiple outlets reported.
