An Israeli Navy strike in Beirut overnight killed five senior commanders from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who were operating from a hotel room in the Lebanese capital, the Israel Defense Forces said Sunday.
According to the military, the officers were members of the Quds Force, the IRGC’s external operations arm, and served in its Palestine and Lebanon corps. Israeli officials said the group had been working to support Hezbollah and Hamas through financial transfers and intelligence assistance.
The commanders were identified as Majid Hassini, described by the IDF as a senior financial operative in the Lebanon Corps responsible for moving Iranian funds to proxy groups in Lebanon, including Hezbollah and Hamas; Ali Reza Bi-Azar, the Lebanon Corps’ chief of intelligence; Ahmad Rasouli, chief of intelligence in the Palestine Corps; Hossein Ahmadlou, an intelligence operative in the Lebanon Corps; and Abu Muhammad Ali, identified as Hezbollah’s representative in the Palestine Corps.
Israeli officials said the strike hit a room at a Ramada hotel in Beirut’s seaside Rawche area. The military said it took steps to reduce the risk to civilians, including the use of precision weapons and aerial surveillance before the operation.
“The Iranian terror regime systematically operates among civilian populations in both Iran and Lebanon, cynically exploiting residents and using them as human shields to further terrorist objectives,” the IDF said.
Lebanese officials said at least four people were killed in the attack. An AFP photographer at the bombed seafront hotel reported shattered windows and heavy damage concentrated in a single room while security forces sealed off the area.
Lebanon’s health ministry said 10 people were wounded in the strike.
The hotel had been housing displaced civilians who fled fighting in southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs, and some residents were seen leaving the building afterward fearing further attacks.
The strike followed an Israeli warning issued last week telling Iranian regime officials in Lebanon that they could be targeted if they did not leave the country. Reuters reported Saturday that more than 150 Iranian nationals, including diplomats and their families, departed Lebanon following the warning.
