On May 6, just after 8 pm, an Israeli strike targeted a 10-story apartment building in the Haret Hreik neighborhood of Beirut’s southern Dahiyeh suburb. Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen reported that the strike killed two people and wounded seven others, without disclosing their identities. Several sources, including the Israeli military, stated that one of the individuals killed in the attack was Ahmad Ghaleb Ballout, the commander of Hezbollah’s Radwan Force commando unit.
Beirut’s Haret Hreik neighborhood is a residential area that also houses many of Hezbollah’s main offices. Lebanese media reported the Israelis fired three missiles at the fourth floor of the building, located near the Allama Gas Station and Mohammad Koeik High School.
The strike was the first in the greater Beirut area since a Lebanon ceasefire agreement that was reached on April 16, 2026. The Israelis gave no warning, which indicates an assassination attempt. Earlier in the day, NNA Lebanon reported that there were “concentrated overflights […] at low altitude” of Israeli drones in “the airspace of Beirut, the capital, reaching Dahiyeh,” likely conducting pre-strike surveillance and reconnaissance. NNA Lebanon subsequently first reported the attack as an airstrike, while an updated report said the strike was launched by an Israeli naval vessel.
An anonymous Lebanese security source told AFP that the strike had hit an apartment building where leaders of Hezbollah’s Radwan Force commando unit had been meeting. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz subsequently issued a joint statement saying that they had approved the attack, which “targeted the commander of the Hezbollah terrorist organization’s Radwan Force in order to eliminate him,” because “Radwan terrorists led by him are responsible for fire directed at Israeli communities and attacks against IDF soldiers.”
Israeli Channel 11 News soon reported that the strike had successfully eliminated “Malek Ballout,” and, citing an unnamed Israeli official, claimed it had been “conducted surgically as part of the Israeli government’s policy of thwarting emerging threats” and in coordination with the United States. The official also alleged that the Hezbollah “headquarters” that was struck had “issued instructions for ceasefire violations targeting and harming [Israeli] forces and communities.” AFP, citing an anonymous “source close to [Hezbollah],” confirmed that “Malek Ballout” was killed in the strike, describing him as the “operations commander in the Radwan Force,” rather than the unit’s overall commander.
The next day, the IDF confirmed it had targeted and killed Ballout but gave his name as Ahmad Ghaleb Ballout, rather than Malek Ballout, which is apparently his nom de guerre. The terse statement described Ballout as the Radwan Force’s commander and said he had held several positions within the unit over the years. “As part of his roles, he was responsible for the unit’s battle-readiness and preparation for combat against IDF forces and the State of Israel,” the statement said. It continued:
During the war, and especially throughout the recent period, Ghaleb Ballout directed the terrorists of the “Radwan Force” and directed dozens of terror attack plans against IDF forces in south Lebanon, including anti-tank missile fire and the activation of explosive charges.
In addition, Ghaleb Ballout advanced efforts to restore the capabilities of the “Radwan Force” unit, and in particular the implementation of the “Plan to Conquer the Galilee,” which the unit had laid down and developed for years.
Hezbollah has not officially confirmed Ballout’s death or role in its organizational hierarchy. Besides the information contained in the IDF’s statement, which could not be independently corroborated, no additional biographical information could be found on him or his career in Hezbollah. In addition, no known picture of Ballout is available in open-source materials, with even the IDF’s brief biography of him containing a grayed-out silhouette.
David Daoud is Senior Fellow at at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies where he focuses on Israel, Hezbollah, and Lebanon affairs.
Tags: beirut, Hezbollah, IDF, Israel-Hezbollah, Lebanon, Radwan Force
