A major security breach in Hezbollah's internal communications network led to the death of one of its most secretive and influential commanders, according to The Wall Street Journal. Fuad Shukr, who had evaded US authorities for four decades, was killed in an Israeli airstrike at the end of July in Beirut.
The WSJ reports that Shukr, a founding member of the US-designated terrorist group Hezbollah, received a phone call instructing him to go to his apartment on the seventh floor of a residential building in southern Beirut's Dahiyeh neighborhood.
According to a Hezbollah official cited by the report, the call likely came from someone who had infiltrated the group's internal communications network. The official stated that Hezbollah and Iran were investigating the intelligence failure, suspecting that Israel had bypassed their counter-surveillance measures.
Hezbollah supporters carry signs and banners of Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukr (Getty)
The strike, which occurred around 7 p.m. on July 30, resulted in the deaths of Shukr, his wife, two other women and two children. The Lebanese Health Ministry reported that more than 70 people were injured in the attack. Shukr's death represents a significant blow to Hezbollah, exposing vulnerabilities in its operations and removing one of its most experienced strategists. The WSJ notes that this incident, coupled with the death of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in a suspected Israeli attack in Tehran hours later, has heightened tensions in the Middle East.
Carmit Valensi, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv and an expert on Hezbollah, told the Journal, "These targeted killings have a cumulative effect on the operational capability of the organization." Shukr, she added, "was a source of knowledge. He knew how to work and communicate with [Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan] Nasrallah. They spoke the same language."
Shukr had played a crucial role in Hezbollah's operations for decades. He was instrumental in organizing Shi'ite guerrilla fighters in Beirut during Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and later became a key link between Hezbollah and Iran.
According to the WSJ, the United States accused Shukr of involvement in planning the 1983 bombing of a US Marine barracks in Beirut, which killed 241 American servicemen. He subsequently became Hezbollah's first military commander when the group officially formed in 1985.
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Despite his significance within Hezbollah, Shukr maintained an extremely low profile. The WSJ reports that he rarely appeared in public, with one of his few recent appearances being at a nephew's funeral earlier this year, lasting only a few minutes.
Hanin Ghaddar, a senior fellow and Hezbollah expert with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, explained to the WSJ, "These high-rank military guys are expected to have a very secretive life and mission—no public appearances, no photos to the public, and definitely no interactions with others in the Shia community."
The WSJ notes that Shukr's death came after a period of increased tension between Hezbollah and Israel. Following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, Hezbollah began launching cross-border attacks on the Jewish state.
According to the WSJ, in the wake of Israel's retaliatory strikes, Nasrallah had become concerned about intelligence breaches leading to the deaths of operatives. In February, he ordered fighters and their families to stop using smartphones and implemented stricter communication protocols.
The Hezbollah official told the WSJ that on the day of the Shukr strike, the group had issued orders for high-ranking commanders to disperse due to perceived risks. After the attack, there was initial uncertainty about Shukr's fate, with some believing he might have escaped. His body was eventually found in a neighbouring building.
Shukr's death marked the end of his invisible existence. At his funeral, his image was displayed on billboards, and video clips of his life were shown on a large screen. He was laid to rest in a public cemetery in Beirut, next to a young man who had died fighting in Syria, according to the fighter's mother. A young neighbor near the site of Shukr's death told the WSJ, "We'd heard his name, but we never saw him. He was like a ghost."
