Hezbollah Commander Killed in Air Strike in Southern Beirut, Says IDF

The IDF said Balut had been recently directing Radwan Force terrorists and had led dozens of terrorist plots against Israel.

A man watches as rescuers work at the site of an Israeli strike in Dahiyeh in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, on May 7, 2026. Mohamad Azakir/Reuters

Israel launched its first air strike on Beirut since the ceasefire in Lebanon came into effect on April 16, killing a Hezbollah commander.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a statement on May 7 saying it had killed Ahmed Ghalib Balut, the commander of the Radwan Force, which it described as “the elite commando unit of the terrorist organization Hezbollah” in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut.