Israel’s spy network infiltrated so deeply into all aspects of Hezbollah’s leadership that the Jewish state knew about one senior commander’s four mistresses and his desperate plan to marry all of them over the phone, according to a new report.
Fuad Shukr, a Hezbollah co-founder, was a key figure in the terror group’s command chain, and Israel’s intelligence service Mossad spent decades collecting information on him until agents could track his every move.
As part of its surveillance, Mossad soon learned Shukr was juggling four different mistresses — something he allegedly felt guilty about and sought to correct by marrying all four women, Israeli and European officials with knowledge of the spying told the New York Times.
Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr allegedly juggled four mistresses and wanted to marry them all in four separate ceremonies over the phone. HEZBOLLAH MILITARY MEDIA OFFICE/AFP via Getty Images
Shukr was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Beirut in July. Anadolu via Getty ImagesShukr, who had been seen as ever elusive following the deadly 1983 bombings in Beirut that killed 241 American Marines, was among the hundreds of Hezbollah commanders being tracked by Israel since the end of the 2006 war.
As Israel built its profile on Shukr, intelligence officers learned of his extramarital affairs, which the Hezbollah commander kept hidden until he sought help in 2024 from the group’s highest religious cleric, Hashem Safieddine, according to the Times.
Safieddine, who was also killed in an airstrike after being named the successor to slain leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, allegedly gave Shukr advice, with the men settling on the unorthodox solution.
The cleric then set up four separate over-the-phone wedding ceremonies for Shukr and each of his mistresses.
Shukr served as one of the highest commanders of Hezbollah and close ally to slain leader Hassan Nasrallah. REUTERSIt remains unclear when the wedding ceremonies took place, but the unions did not last.
Shukr became Israel’s prime target following a missile attack in Majdal Shams in July, when dozens of Israelis, including school children, were killed.
On July 30, Shukr reportedly received a phone call luring him out of his secret hiding place in the southern Beirut neighborhood of Dahiyeh, where an Israeli missile struck, killing him.
Lebanese officials said Shukr was killed along with one of his wives, two children, and two other women. Several Arabic media outlets claimed the wife who was killed was one of the mistresses Shukr had married.
Shukr was wanted in the 1983 bombings in Beirut that killed 241 American Marines. APThe two other women were not identified as Lebanon’s health ministry said 70 others were also injured in the blast.
Hours after Shukr’s assassination, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an alleged Israeli bombing while visiting Tehran.
