An Israeli air strike on a building in central Beirut on Sunday killed media relations chief of Hezbollah Mohammad Afif, two Lebanese security sources said. However, there was no immediate confirmation from the Iran-backed terror group.
Israel has rarely hit senior Hezbollah personnel who do not have clear military roles, and its air strikes have mostly targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs where the group has its heaviest presence.
A second, separate strike later on Sunday hit Mar Elias Street, another central area rarely targeted by Israeli bombs, targeting a vehicle, Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV reported. The Lebanese health ministry said that the strike killed at least two people.
The Israeli military declined to comment in response to questions from Reuters about the strike that killed Afif. An Israeli military spokesperson’s account on social media that often publishes evacuation orders for areas about to be bombed showed no such warning before that strike.
Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire for more than a year, since the group began launching rockets at Israeli military targets on October 8, 2023. That was a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
In late September, Israel expanded its military campaign in Lebanon, heavily bombing the south and east and the southern suburbs of Beirut alongside ground incursions along the border.
Israel’s campaign in Lebanon has in the last year killed 3,841 people and wounded nearly 15,000 others, the Lebanese health ministry said on Sunday, giving a toll that did not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Hezbollah rockets fired across the border have killed dozens of Israelis, including soldiers and civilians, Israel says.
In addition to targeting Hezbollah, the escalation has killed several soldiers of the Lebanese military, including two who died on Sunday when Israel attacked an army post in the southern town of Al-Mari, the Lebanese army stated.
Diplomatic efforts are underway to bring hostilities to cease in Lebanon.
Team Bharatshakti
(With inputs from Reuters)
