Lebanese authorities are investigating a man arrested at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport on suspicion of providing Israel with sensitive intelligence that may have contributed to the assassinations of several senior Hezbollah commanders, including prominent military official Fuad Shukr, people familiar with the matter told MBN.
The investigation extends beyond the killing of Shukr, who was assassinated in Beirut’s southern suburbs in July 2024, and also covers other operations targeting senior Hezbollah officials during the same year, the people said.
Lebanese authorities have not issued an official account confirming all reported details. Information attributed to the suspect remains under judicial and security investigation.
According to the people familiar with the matter, the suspect, who belongs to the Al Khalifa family and is married to an Iraqi woman, is suspected of collaborating with Israel and supplying intelligence on the movements and locations of senior Hezbollah military and security officials.
Investigators are also examining information indicating that the suspect’s brother held a field position within Hezbollah, which, according to the people, enabled the suspect to build relationships with senior military and security figures and gain access to sensitive information that he is suspected of later passing on.
The investigation is focusing in particular on whether intelligence allegedly provided by the suspect contributed to the assassination of Shukr, who held a senior position in Hezbollah’s military leadership and was responsible for duties related to the group’s operations and military command structure.
Shukr was killed in Beirut’s southern suburbs on July 30, 2024, in one of the most significant operations targeting Hezbollah’s military leadership during the war.
Other Assassinations Under Review
The investigation is not limited to Shukr’s case but also includes the killing of Radwan Force commander Sami Taleb, people in Beirut told MBN.
Information under review suggests that the account at the time—that Taleb was killed in an airstrike—may not fully reflect the circumstances of the operation. Investigators are examining claims that he may instead have been killed by an explosive device after the perpetrators received field intelligence.
That possibility remains under investigation and has not been confirmed by Lebanese authorities.
The investigation also covers the killing of senior Hezbollah military commander Ibrahim Aqil on Sept. 20, 2024, in an Israeli airstrike targeting a building in the Jamous neighborhood of Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The strike also killed several Radwan Force commanders who were meeting inside the building, making it one of the most significant blows to Hezbollah’s leadership structure during the war.
Investigators are examining the possibility of a broad human intelligence breach that enabled the collection of precise information on the whereabouts of senior Hezbollah military and security officials, MBN has learned, facilitating a series of assassinations targeting the group’s top leadership alongside previously identified technical intelligence breaches.
People familiar with the matter told MBN that the suspect has been referred to Judge Claude Ghanem, the government commissioner to the Military Court, who is expected to charge him with collaborating with Israel and providing security information suspected of contributing to the deaths of Lebanese nationals.
Adapted and translated from the original Arabic.
