Hezbollah's Martyred Commander Wissam Tawil: A Legacy of Resistance

By Al Mayadeen English

The Resistance leader was assassinated by the Israeli occupation in his home town Khirbet Selem in South Lebanon.

Hezbollah announced on Monday the martyrdom of one of its Resistance commanders on the path to al-Quds, in an Israeli strike targeting his car in the town of Khirbet Selem, South Lebanon.

The Resistance party mourned its senior officer Wissam Hassan Tawil, codenamed Hajj Jawad, who had contributed his life to fighting the Israeli occupation in the past decades, and more recently the terrorist Western-backed proxies in Syria and Iraq, mainly ISIS, making him a key figure in confronting US-Israeli-led plots against the region.

Al Mayadeen sheds light on his heroic legacy

In a special coverage, Al Mayadeen shed light on the life and journey of the martyr and revealed some information about his final moments before his assassination.

The Resistance's top leader had arrived at his home on the outskirts of the town of Khirbet Selem on Sunday evening, after being away for a long time.

His house is located approximately 19 to 20 kilometers away from the border with occupied Palestine.

The attack was carried out shortly after Tawil left his home around noon and headed to his car parked on the opposite side of the road. Circulating footage shows his car set ablaze.

How Tawil was assassinated remains inconclusive, especially considering Israeli reports suggesting that it could have been carried out using an IED.

Man of the field

The Israeli occupation had labeled Tawil as a top priority target for over two decades, due to his massive contributions to the Resistance and his vast participation in operations against the entity since the 1990s, when it was still occupying the Lebanese South.

He had been pursued by Israelis for many years and survived several assassination attempts. 

Since the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023, Hajj Jawad has been on the frontlines, even approaching the nearest point from the occupied Palestinian territories on several occasions, being just a few meters away from Israeli military bases.

Among his fellow fighters in the Islamic Resistance, he is known as the "man of the field" and an expert in all its details.

Following the news of his martyrdom, Israeli media outlets started publishing reports claiming that Tawil was the commander of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force. However, the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon categorically rejected the reports, stressing that there was no truth to it in any way.

A life dedicated to the Resistance

Hezbollah's military media published a brief biography of the martyred commander, his contributions, and his key roles.

Part of all Hezbollah's major operations

In 1985, Wisam Hassan Tawil joined Hezbollah and underwent various training stages, where his commitment to fieldwork became evident.

Between 1992-2000, the martyr became an active fighter among the Resistance ranks, participating in all combat and reconnaissance operations against the occupation, especially in the Iqlim al-Tuffah region, following the Israeli aggression on Lebanon in April 1996, after which he became deputy head of the Iqlim al-Tuffah axis. 

Throughout his Resistance years, he sustained severe injuries, notably in 1999 during the Sujud operation.

Present on all fronts

He participated in many Islamic Resistance operations, before the liberation of South Lebanon and Western Bekaa in 2000. After the liberation, he took part in high-end operations against the Israeli enemy positions in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms.

He excelled in reconnaissance and information-gathering operations and was under the supervision of Hezbollah's martyred top commander Imad Moughniyeh (such as in the Aramta operation).

He also participated in developing programs related to the development of Hezbollah's field operations.

In individual photos, martyr Tawil can be seen with current Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, martyr Imad Moughniyeh, martyred leader Mostafa Badreddine, and martyred leader of the IRGC's Quds Force, martyr Qassem Soleimani, among others.

Transferring experience to the Palestinian Resistance

Tawil took part in the planning and reconnaissance stages of Resistance operations to capture Israeli soldiers in occupied Lebanese territories near the Palestinian border, most notably the Shebaa operation in 2000, al-Ghajar in 2005, and Kallet Warde (Ayta al-Shaab) in July 2006 (Operation Truthful Promise).

After the Israeli occupation launched the war on Lebanon in July 2006, the now-martyred official played a key role in resisting the aggression, leading up to the historic victory against "Israel" in August 2006.

Following the war, Hezbollah engaged in deep structural changes as part of lessons derived from the war aimed at developing and improving the Resistance and its capabilities. Tawil was one of the leading figures to materialize this plan between 2006 and 2011.

As the war on Syria broke out in 2011, he was in the vanguard of the fighters joining forces in the face of terrorist organizations.

Moreover, one of his most crucial contributions was transferring Hezbollah's experience to the Palestinian Resistance and participating in the liberation of Iraq from US-backed ISIS.