The senior Hezbollah leader trained the group’s elite fighting unit and led its support for Hamas after the Oct. 7 attacks, the Lebanese militia said.
Hezbollah said Saturday that Ahmed Wahbi, a commander it described as a leader and trainer in the group’s elite Radwan force, had been killed in an airstrike along with the force’s founding commander, Ibrahim Aqeel, and other Hezbollah members.
As is common for Hezbollah military operatives, Mr. Wahbi had little public profile while he was alive, but an obituary distributed by Hezbollah-linked media said he played a leading role in Hezbollah’s support for Hamas after the latter’s assault on Israel on Oct. 7. Hezbollah has launched attacks on northern Israel through the war in Gaza to support Hamas.
Both are backed by Iran and are members of a regional militia network known as the “axis of resistance,” which also includes the Houthis of Yemen, the government of Syria and other fighting groups there and in Iraq.
Mr. Wahbi, 59, was a longtime member of Hezbollah, joining at its inception, during Lebanon’s civil war in the 1980s to fight the Israeli occupation of the country’s south. The origins and makeup of the Radwan unit are murky, but its fighters have played key roles in operations like the abduction of Israeli soldiers in 2006, which led to a destructive monthlong war with Israel in 2006. The unit also fought against the jihadists of the Islamic State in Syria.
As a young fighter, Mr. Wahbi participated in Hezbollah’s early operations against Israel, Hezbollah said. He was captured by the Israeli army in 1984, though the group did not say why or how long he was held.
In 1997, he was a leader of a Hezbollah ambush targeting Israeli naval commandos near the town of Ansariya, in southern Lebanon, according to Hezbollah’s obituary. Hezbollah fighters killed about a dozen Israeli officers in that operation.
He was a longtime leader and trainer with the Radwan force, in what Hezbollah called “developing human capabilities.” He also trained other formations within the group.
He headed the Radwan force until the beginning of this year, then returned to training, Hezbollah said.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it had struck “the masterminds” of a plan to attack northern Israel as Hamas attacked near Gaza on Oct. 7. The military did not mention Mr. Wahbi specifically, and did not respond to a request for comment.
Lynsey Chutel is a Times reporter based in London who covers breaking news in Africa, the Middle East and Europe. More about Lynsey Chutel
