BEIRUT, Lebanon, July  31, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - A source close to Hezbollah
told AFP that the body of top commander Fuad Shukr had been recovered
Wednesday, almost 24 hours after he was killed in an Israeli strike on southern
Beirut.

       The strike was followed by another, hours later, which killed Hamas
political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, triggering fears the war in Gaza
could escalate into a wider regional conflict.

       The source, who requested anonymity, said "Shukr's body has been found
under the rubble of the targeted building," after Israel's military said it had
killed the commander on Tuesday.

       The Israeli military said its Tuesday evening strike had "eliminated"
Shukr, who it blamed for carrying out a weekend rocket attack on the annexed
Golan Heights that killed 12 children in a Druze Arab town.

       The Israeli army has described Shukr as Hezbollah's "most senior military
commander" and "right-hand man" to the group's chief Hassan Nasrallah.

       Earlier on Wednesday, Hezbollah confirmed Shukr was inside the targeted
building but said his fate was still unknown.

    The raid on the Beirut suburb, an overcrowded residential area that is also
a Hezbollah bastion, killed five civilians -- three women and two children,
according to Lebanon's health ministry.