TEHRAN – It has been one year since the assassination of General Hajj Ibrahim Aghil, Hezbollah’s operations chief, along with 14 of his comrades and fellow officers in an Israeli air raid on the southern suburb of Beirut (Dahia).

This airstrike revealed the story of one of the most influential military commanders of the modern era, previously shrouded in secrecy.

Ibrahim Aghil—also known as “Hajj Abdulghader” and “Hajj Tahseen” among friends and foes—began his journey in resistance at Aameliyah Mosque in Beirut in 1976, a year after the Lebanese civil war began. Though born into a non-religious family of Shia immigrants from the Beghaa Valley who settled in the Corniche el-Mazraa neighborhood in downtown Beirut, he was deeply influenced by the speeches of Imam Mussa Sadr, the prominent Shia leader of the time, and joined his Amal movement.

Following the Islamic Revolution in Iran and Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982, Ibrahim Aghil became a follower of Imam Khomeini and a key figure in resistance cells in Beirut. This marked the beginning of the formation of Hezbollah and the Islamic Jihad of Lebanon.Aghil was instrumental in planning and executing major attacks against hostile forces. He played a crucial role in defeating Israel and forcing its retreat from Beirut in September 1982, as well as leading martyrdom operations against American, Israeli, and French troops in Beirut and Tyre during 1982 and 1983.
After Hezbollah was officially established in February 1985, Ibrahim Aghil was appointed chief commander of the Central Training Unit (CTU) within Hezbollah’s military wing, the Islamic Resistance. For several years, he traveled frequently between Lebanon and Iran, mainly for military missions and Islamic studies.

Later, after Hezbollah’s first general council in 1989, he became deputy commander of the Jihad Council. Known within the Islamic Resistance by his military nickname “Hajj Abdulghader,” he began an in-depth study of modern military history, comparing global military battles with Hezbollah’s unique experience, particularly Israel’s retreat to the occupied South Lebanon border strip in 1985. This research was pivotal in developing what is now known as Hezbollah’s Military Doctrine and establishing the Special Forces of the Islamic Resistance.

During the final years of Israeli occupation in South Lebanon, Aghil served as chief commander of operations in Jabal Aamel, leading campaigns against Israeli forces and the Lahad mercenaries in the occupied region. His strategic plans and decisive operations—especially against Israeli bases in Sojod, Aramta, and Bayyada—significantly weakened Israeli forces, culminating in the liberation of South Lebanon on May 25, 2000.

After liberation, General Aghil helped plan prisoner capture operations between 2000 and 2003. These efforts led to two successful missions: one in the occupied Shebaa Farms on October 7, 2000, and another called Operation True Promise in Zarit, northern occupied Palestine, on July 12, 2006.

Following the 33-day war in 2006, Ibrahim Aghil and Imad Mughniyah began reorganizing Hezbollah’s special forces. After Israel assassinated Mughniyah in Damascus in February 2008, Aghil completed this task and named the primary special assault unit the “Radwan Force.” He appointed his longtime deputy, Hajj Ali Fayyadh—former leader of Hezbollah’s military advisory team during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war—as the first operational commander of Radwan Force.
The Syrian conflict was the Radwan Force’s first major test. Ibrahim Aghil, Ali Fayyadh, and later commanders Wissam Al Taweel and Hatam Hemada led the force in intense battles across Aleppo, Zabadani, Ghusayr, the Levant desert, and as far as Bukamal. General Aghil collaborated closely with General Hajj Qassem Soleimani, commander of the IRGC Quds Force, especially during the final battles against ISIS.

After participating in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, the Bosnian war in the 1990s, and advising Iraqi resistance forces against US and NATO troops in the 2000s, this Syrian campaign marked Hezbollah’s fourth cross-border military engagement, with Aghil and Radwan Force playing a vital role.

Just months before Operation Al Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023, Ibrahim Aghil and Wissam al Taweel organized a Radwan Force military exercise in the Aramta region. Broadcast by regional and international media, the maneuver sent a clear message to Tel Aviv: Hezbollah was prepared to fight not only in South Lebanon but also in northern Palestine.

When Hezbollah entered the war against Israel by killing a high-ranking Golani Brigade officer on October 8, 2023, Ibrahim Aghil, as head of Hezbollah’s operations unit and military advisor to Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, planned fierce attacks on Israeli bases and settlements in northern Palestine to force the Zionist occupiers to withdraw.

However, in the following year, Israel launched a severe invasion and assassinated several top Hezbollah military leaders. Days after the Pager attack, Hajj Abdulghader and 15 members of Radwan Force were killed in an Israeli air raid on one of Radwan’s headquarters in southern Beirut.

Despite these losses, Hezbollah fought fiercely for 66 days, preventing Israel from establishing a new occupied zone in South Lebanon. During this conflict, the Radwan Force refrained from border clashes, awaiting orders to invade Israel and liberate Al Quds.