
As the sun dipped below the horizon on the evening of 30 July, an explosion thundered across the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Within seconds a plume of smoke rose above the cityscape, leaving behind an apartment building reduced mostly to rubble.
Israel claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed the senior Hezbollah commander, Fouad Shukur, who Israel blames for orchestrating a 27 July strike in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 children and teenagers.