Ali Hussein Barji (; allegedly died on 9 January 2024) was a Lebanese militant and the commander of

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

's aerial forces in southern

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. He was reportedly killed by an

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i airstrike in Khirbet Selm, Lebanon, during the 2023–2024 Israel–Hezbollah conflict.

Military career

Barji played a key role in the development of Hezbollah's

suicide drone A loitering munition, also known as a suicide drone, kamikaze drone, or exploding drone, is a weapon with a warhead that is typically designed to loiter until a target is designated, then crash into it.

system. During the Syrian civil war, he was one of the highest-ranking Hezbollah officials engaged in combat in the Idlib region. Barji orchestrated numerous drone attacks on Israeli forces during the 2023–2024 Israel–Hezbollah conflict. Notably, he orchestrated a strike on an Israeli airbase in

Mount Meron Mount Meron (, ''Har Meron'', renamed after ancient Meiron; , ''Jabal al-Jarmaq'') is a mountain in the Upper Galilee region of Israel. It has special significance in Jewish religious tradition and parts of it have been declared a nature reserv ...

on 6 January 2024, and targeted Israel's Northern Command headquarters in

Safed Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...

on 9 January 2024.

Death

On 9 January 2024, he was killed in an Israeli airstrike while attending the funeral of

Wissam al-Tawil Wissam al-Tawil (; 1970 – 8 January 2024), also known as Jawad al-Tawil (Arabic: ) was a Lebanese militant and senior commander of Hezbollah's Radwan Force. After joining Hezbollah in 1989, he participated in some of the group's biggest mil ...

, another Hezbollah senior commander who had been killed the previous day. Israel stated that his killing was a response to the drone attack in Safed that had occurred earlier that day.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barji, Ali Hussein Year of birth missing 2024 deaths Hezbollah members Assassinated Hezbollah members Lebanese Shia Muslims Military personnel killed in the Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present)