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15-03-2024
BEIRUT: An Israeli drone strike targeted a car in southern Lebanon near the coastal city of Tyre, killing a member of the Palestinian militant Hamas group and a civilian.
Since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in Gaza on Oct. 7, Israeli strikes have killed or wounded several ranking members of the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group, as well as its ally Hamas in different parts of Lebanon.
Hamas identified its slain member as Hadi Mustafa and said he was with the group’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades. Lebanese state media said he was from the Rashidieh refugee camp near Tyre, where Hamas has a notable presence.
The Israeli military released a video of the strike and said Mustafa was directing cells to attack “Israeli and Jewish targets” in different parts of the world and reiterated that the Israeli army and security agencies will go after Hamas wherever the Palestinian group is active.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the other person killed was a Syrian citizen who was on a motorcycle near the targeted car. It also said two people were wounded in the strike.
The strike came a day after a pair of Israeli airstrikes hit deep into Lebanese territor y, killing a Hezbollah member and another person, and wounding 20 people.
The strikes were in retaliation for a barrage of 100 Katyusha rockets that Hezbollah fired targeting several Israeli military positions, including two bases in northern Israel earlier in the day. Also on Tuesday, top Hamas official Khalil al-Hayyeh met Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut
The United States and other governments continue with efforts to prevent the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip from spilling over into Lebanon as Hezbollah militants and Israeli soldiers trade fire across the volatile Lebanon-Israel border.
The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage. Since then, there have been near-daily exchanges along the Lebanon-Israel border and international mediators have scrambled to prevent an all-out war in tiny Lebanon.
In retaliation for the Hamas attack, Israel’s launched an offensive into the Gaza Strip that has so far killed more than 31,000 Palestinians, displaced hundreds of thousands and caused wide destruction.
Hezbollah has vowed not to stop the fighting until a cease-fire is reached in Gaza.
The biggest Israeli strike in Lebanon came in early June, when top Hamas official Saleh Arouri and six others were killed in a Beirut apartment.
A pair of Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday in northeastern Lebanon killed at least two people and wounded 20, marking a continued escalation between Israel and Hezbollah over the war Israel is waging against Hamas militants in Gaza.
One of the airstrikes destroyed a warehouse that reportedly was used to store food.
The Israeli military said the airstrikes hit two Hezbollah sites and were in response to rocket attacks over northern Israel earlier in the day. Hezbollah said they struck several Israeli military positions, including two bases in northern Israel with a barrage of 100 Katyusha rockets on Tuesday. (Int’l News Desk)
