By Jerald Jimenez
03 Jul 2024, 16:31 PM EDT
BEIRUT / JERUSALEM – A commander of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah was killed on Wednesday by an Israeli drone strike on the vehicle in which he was travelling in the Al Housh area in southern Lebanon, Lebanese sources and the Israeli army confirmed.
A source close to Hezbollah, who requested anonymity, told EFE today that the deceased is a leader of the Aziz Unit of the armed formation, identified as Mohamed Nimah Naser (‘Abu Nimah’), who was killed in an attack against the area of Al Housh, near the city of Tyre.
The Israeli military confirmed the attack shortly afterward, saying in a statement that Naser had been collaborating with Hezbollah since 2016 and had been carrying out the firing of rockets and anti-tank missiles from southwestern Lebanon into Israel.
According to Lebanon’s National News Agency (ANN), an Israeli drone bombed their vehicle, injuring at least two other people, although the state-run media did not provide details about their identities.
Three weeks ago, another top Hezbollah commander, Sami Taleb Abdullah, was also killed in an Israeli airstrike in a house in the south of the country.
His death, along with that of several other members of the movement, sparked a sharp escalation between Hezbollah and Israel in the following days, including a massive wave of attacks with more than 200 projectiles against various points in Israel, some against areas far from the common border.
Israeli forces have stepped up their training in the north of the country in recent weeks in anticipation of the possibility of an open war breaking out against Hezbollah, with whom they have been locked in intense crossfire since October 8, one day after the start of the Gaza war.
The clashes are the worst between the sides since their 2006 war, as the international community tries to find a negotiated solution to the border crisis.
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