Ibrahim Kobeissi, who was the head of Hezbollah's missile unit, had planned the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli soldiers at the northern border in 2000, as per the Israeli military. The bodies of the three Israeli soldiers were returned in a prisoner swap with Hezbollah four years later.
Other Hezbollah Commanders Killed
Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah had been escalating in the months before the recent escalation after Israel's military had targeted top commanders, most notably Fuad Shukur in late July, hours before an explosion in Iran widely blamed on Israel killed the leader of the Palestinian Hamas militant group Ismail Haniyeh.
Fuad Shukur was accused by the US of plotting the 1983 bombing in Beirut that killed 241 American servicemen.
Leaders of key units in the south, Jawad Tawil, Taleb Abdullah, and Mohammad Nasser, who over several decades became instrumental members of Hezbollah's military activity were all assassinated.