An Israeli strike on a vehicle in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon on Friday killed a Hamas commander, the Palestinian militant group and the Israeli military said.
It was the first such strike in Sidon since Hamas launched its attack on Israel on October 7, sparking war in Gaza and prompting its Lebanese ally Hezbollah to begin exchanging near-daily cross-border fire with the Israeli army in an attempt to subdue its troops.
Hamas said in a statement that its “commander” Samer al-Hajj was killed “in a Zionist strike in the city of Sidon.”
In a separate statement, the group’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, called Hajj a “field commander” and said his death was an “assassination.”
A Lebanese security source said an Israeli strike targeted a Hamas security official from Ain al-Helweh camp while he was in his vehicle in the city of Sidon. The source requested anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Ain al-Helweh and other refugee camps were established for Palestinians who were driven out or fled during the 1948 war that accompanied the creation of Israel.
The Israeli military said its warplanes struck the Sidon region and “eliminated” Hajj, whom it identified as “a senior commander” of Hamas in Lebanon.
He said Hajj “was responsible for advancing terrorist attacks and launching projectiles from Lebanon into Israeli territory,” and that he was “the commander of the military forces in the Ain al-Helweh camp… and was responsible for recruiting and training” the operatives.
– ‘Drone’ –
The Lebanese National News Agency (ANI) reported that an “enemy drone” carried out the deadly strike, which also reportedly injured “two civilians.”
An AFP correspondent saw rescuers remove a charred body from the vehicle as soldiers cordoned off the area.
Hamas channels on the Telegram messaging app broadcast videos apparently showing young men chanting slogans and marching in the Ain al-Helweh camp after the strike.
Israel has repeatedly targeted Hamas officials in Lebanon since the Gaza war began 10 months ago, and 18 Hamas fighters have been killed in Lebanon since then, according to an AFP tally.
A strike in January, which a U.S. defense official said was carried out by Israel, killed Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Aruri and six other militants in Hezbollah’s stronghold south of Beirut.
In March, Hamas said one of its members was killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon that state media said left three people dead.
In May, Hamas said a “commander” was killed in an Israeli strike on a district in eastern Lebanon near the Syrian border.
Ten months of cross-border violence have left some 562 dead in Lebanon, the majority of them fighters but also at least 116 civilians, according to an AFP report.
On the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan, 22 soldiers and 26 civilians were killed, according to army figures.
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