Israel kills Ibrahim Aqil, Hezbollah leader who US said was behind 1983 Marine barracks bombing that killed 241 Americans

Israel on Friday killed Ibrahim Aqil, a Hezbollah leader who was behind a series of bombing attacks that killed more than 300 Americans in the 1980s.

During the strike earlier Friday, senior operatives in Hezbollah’s operations staff and commanders from the Radwan Unit were eliminated alongside Aqil.

The terrorists were killed while meeting to plan a fresh incursion into Israel to “kidnap and murder innocent civilians in a similar manner to the October 7 Massacre,” the Israel Defense Forces said.

“The IDF will continue to remove the threat of Hezbollah’s capabilities and will continue to operate in all arenas to protect Israeli civilians,” the military said in its announcement.

Aqil, who was also known as Tahsin, was a “principal leader” in the terrorist group’s cell responsible for the 1983 Lebanon bombings at a US Embassy in Beirut that killed 63 people and a Marine Corps barracks that killed 241 US personnel — 220 Marines, 18 sailors and three soldiers.

The US announced a $7 million reward in April last year for any info as to his whereabouts.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he was “certainly not aware of any pre-notification [by the IDF to Washington] of those strikes,” noting that it was “not atypical” for the Israeli military to strike without giving the US a heads-up.

Lebanese health officials said at least 12 people were killed and 66 wounded, nine of whom are in serious condition.

It comes during a week marked by high-profile IDF targetings of Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy group based in Lebanon, which is just north of Israel.

On Tuesday, Israel’s elite Mossad intelligence and covert operations agency unleashed a long-planned attack in which it blew up pagers belonging to Hezbollah members, killing 12 and injuring 2,800.

The next day, the agency detonated walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah, killing 20 and injuring 450 more.

Hezbollah has been launching near-daily airstrikes — starting almost immediately after Hamas’ horrific Oct. 7 attack on Israeli civilians, said Nicolas Carl, research manager for the American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project.

“Israeli senior political and military leaders have been very clear in this time that they see the security situation along their northern border as unsustainable,” Carl told The Post on Wednesday.

The strikes began just a day after Israel’s security cabinet approved “returning the residents of the north securely to their homes” as a formal war objective.

That came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week said a political settlement alone will not return displaced citizens to northern Israel and that Israel is “preparing for a broad campaign” to this effect.