The anti-tank commander of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed during a drone strike carried out by Israel in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, media reports said on Tuesday.
The slain Hezbollah commander was identified as Hassan Kamal Halawi, who was the chief of the group’s anti-tank missile unit, Israel’s military said.
“During the war, Halawi was responsible for numerous terror attacks against the State of Israel. He facilitated the movement of operatives and the supply of weapons into southern Lebanon. In recent months, Halawi continued to engage in terrorist activity against Israeli civilians,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement as quoted by The Times of Israel.
A Lebanese Security source told news agency Xinhua: “An Israeli drone fired an air-to-ground missile at a civilian vehicle … in (the village of) Qa’qaiyat al-Jisr, killing one person and setting the car ablaze.”
The body of the Hezbollah leader was reportedly transported by civil defense teams to a hospital in Nabatieh.
No official confirmation has been made from the Lebanese side so far.
Fragile Ceasefire
A fragile ceasefire has been in place since November, which ended the month-long cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah.
The conflict blew up into a major conflict in September last year.
Lebanese authorities reported over 1,200 Israeli violations of the ceasefire, including the deaths of 100 people and injuries to more than 330, reported Anadolu Agency.
Deadly Airstrikes
The Israeli military on Saturday carried out multiple waves of airstrikes across Lebanon when it targeted suspected Hezbollah sites.
At least seven people have been killed, including a child, and 40 others injured in Saturday’s strikes, the Lebanese Health Ministry was quoted as saying by CNN.
In an official statement quoted by CNN, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered a “second wave” of attacks on southern and eastern Lebanon on Saturday evening local time in response to Hezbollah rocket fire toward Israel and “in continuation of the first wave of attacks this morning”.
“The Lebanese government is responsible for everything that happens on its territory,” the statement added.
(With inputs from IBNS)
