IDF kills Hezbollah commander behind brutal attack on children's soccer field: officials

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Tuesday announced the death of Fuad Shukr, the Hezbollah commander who was behind a drone strike that killed 12 children and teens over the weekend.

Shukr, who was also known as Hajj Mohsin, joined Hezbollah in 1985. He was also sought by the U.S. government over his connection to the 1983 suicide bombing of the Marine Corps barracks in Beruit that killed 241 U.S. service members.

Shukr served as a senior adviser to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah at the time of his death in an IDF strike on Tuesday in southern Beirut.

The IDF confirmed the news in a press release, announcing that its fighter jets "eliminated the Hezbollah terrorist organization's most senior military commander [Shukr]" in Lebanon's capital city.

Hezbollah has not confirmed that Shukr is dead.

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"As the Head of Hezbollah's Strategic Unit, Fuad was responsible for the majority of Hezbollah's most advanced weaponry, including precise-guided missiles, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, long-range rockets, and UAVs," the release said. "He was responsible for force build-up, planning, and execution of terror attacks against the State of Israel."

Recently, Hezbollah killed a dozen children on a soccer field in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in an airstrike on Saturday. Hezbollah has denied involvement, though the IDF and U.S. military dispute that claim.

The strike infuriated Israeli officials, prompting the IDF to launch missiles at Lebanon shortly after. One missile struck an apartment building next to a hospital in the Haret Hreik neighborhood of Beirut.

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A senior Israeli official