Hezbollah affirms assassination of group's 'great jihadist leader', Fouad Shokor, in Israeli strike on Beirut suburbs

Hezbollah confirmed the death of Fouad Shokor, referred to as the "great jihadist leader," in a statement on Wednesday. This followed an Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut that resulted in dozens of casualties, both killed and injured.

Fouad Shokor, also known as al-Hajj Mohsin, was the senior advisor on military affairs to Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

He served on Hezbollah's highest military body, the Jihad Council, and aided the group's fighters and pro-Syrian regime troops in Hezbollah's military campaign against Syrian opposition forces in Syria.

Shokor was an associate of late commander Imad Mughniyah and played a major role in the 1983 bombing of the US Marine Corps Barracks in Beirut, which resulted in the death of 241 US military personnel, wounding 128 others.

In 2019, the US Department of State designated Shokor as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist." 

Previously, the Rewards for Justice (RFJ), the US Department of State’s national security rewards program, offered a reward of up to $5 million, as a way to oppose Tehran's "growing regional influence," according to Reuters.

In the meantime, Hezbollah Secretary-General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is set to deliver a speech on his political stance during Shokor's funeral procession on Thursday.