Iran is reportedly interrogating one of its top generals after recent Israeli strikes nearly dismantled the command structure of the regime-backed Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon, Arab and Israeli media reports suggest.
The chief of the Quds Force, Iranian regime’s global terrorist arm, Esmail Qaani, has been taken into custody after an Israeli airstrike on Friday targeted and likely killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah’s projected successor, Hashem Safieddine.
According to some Arab media reports, Qaani may have even suffered a ‘heart attack’ during the ‘interrogation.’
“An unconfirmed report from Sky News Arabic claims that top commander of Iran’s Quds Force Esmail Qaani suffered a heart attack during an interrogation conducted by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps over his potential involvement in Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah late last month,” The Times of Israel reported Thursday.
Qaani was promoted to head the Quds Forces in 2020 after his predecessor Qassem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike ordered by President Donald Trump.
Reports about the possible fate of the top Islamic Guard (IRGC) general come two months after Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was eliminated in an alleged Israeli strike in Iran. The Hamas terror chief was staying at an IRGC safe house in Tehran when the deadly blast took place.
The Jerusalem Post reports Thursday:
Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force Brigadier-General Esmail Qaani is alive and currently under investigation in Iran, the Middle East Eye reported on Thursday, citing several sources.His whereabouts have been unknown since Israel’s Saturday strike in Beirut that killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah’s presumed successor, Hashem Safieddine.According to the report, the Islamic Republic is currently researching security breaches, with ten sources from Beirut, Baghdad, and Tehran telling the UK-based news outlet that both Qaani and his team were under isolation while under examination.In addition, on Thursday, Israeli media, citing Sky News, reported that Qaani had suffered from a heart attack during interrogations.“The Iranians have serious suspicions that the Israelis have infiltrated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, especially those working in the Lebanese arena, so everyone is currently under investigation,” a source told the Middle East Eye.However, the report also cited a source linked to Hezbollah, who alleged unequivocally that the breach was “100 percent Iranian.”
The Quds Force chief has not been seen since last Friday, fueling speculations that the top Iranian general was either seriously injured or killed in the Israeli strike on the Hezbollah terrorist stronghold in southern Beirut.
Qaani was reportedly present nearby when Hezbollah’s likely next chief, Safieddine, was targeted last week in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant recently indicated that Safieddine may have been killed in that strike.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) eliminated two senior Hezbollah terror commanders in southern Lebanon.
In a joint operation by the Israeli military and the air force (IAF), Hezbollah commander, Ahmad Moustafa al-Haj Ali, was eliminated. He was responsible for firing hundreds of rockets and missiles on northern Israel since October 7, 2023.
“The IAF and IDF artillery struck and eliminated the terrorist Ahmad Moustafa al-Haj Ali, commander of the Houla Front in the Hezbollah terrorist organization, who was responsible for hundreds of missile and anti-tank missile attacks toward the Kiryat Shmona area,” the Israeli military said in a statement Thursday.
Another Hezbollah commander, Mohammad Ali Hamdan, was taken out by the IDF in a separate strike. “In another strike, the IDF eliminated Mohammad Ali Hamdan, commander of Hezbollah’s anti-tank unit in the Meiss El Jabal area, who was responsible for extensive anti-tank missile attacks toward communities in northern Israel,” the military disclosed.
The IDF targeted Hezbollah’s command structure as the Iran-backed terrorist group continued to fire rockets on northern Israeli cities and towns. “The latest Hezbollah rocket barrage on northern Israel’s Galilee region saw some 50 projectiles fired at civilian areas, the Israeli military said in a statement, adding that a number of impacts were identified yet there were no early reports of casualties,” the Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported Thursday.
As the Israeli ground operation entered its tenth day, the IDF continued to eliminate Hezbollah’s terrorist fighting force and military buildup along the country’s border with Lebanon.
“The IDF is continuing limited, localized, targeted operations against Hezbollah attack infrastructure and terrorists in southern Lebanon,” the military revealed Thursday. “Over the past day, IDF soldiers eliminated numerous terrorists in various close-quarters encounters and aerial strikes. The forces also located and destroyed hundreds of weapons, including anti-tank missile and rocket launchers aimed at civilian communities in northern Israel, as well as underground terrorist infrastructure.”
Israeli fighter jets hit further terrorist targets in Gaza and Lebanon. “Over the past day, the IAF struck more than 110 Hezbollah terrorist targets in Lebanon and approximately 30 Hamas terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip,” the military said Thursday. “The strikes targeted terrorist cells, weapons storage facilities, launchers, terrorist infrastructure sites, observation posts, and underground terror infrastructure.”
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