ReutersHezbollah’s media chief Mohammed Afif has been killed in an Israeli strike in central Beirut, in response to information experiences citing Lebanese safety sources.
A strike hit the headquarters of the Baath political social gathering within the densely populated Ras al-Naba neighbourhood on Sunday, in response to Lebanon’s state-run Nationwide Information Company.
The nation’s well being ministry mentioned one particular person was killed, however didn’t identify the sufferer.
Afif, one of many few remaining public faces of the group, was final seen on Monday, when he gave a press convention in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the place the group relies.
The Israel Protection Forces (IDF) and Hezbollah didn’t instantly touch upon the experiences.
The BBC has contacted the IDF.
Reuters and the AFP information company each reported that Afif was killed in Sunday’s strike, citing Lebanese safety sources. The Related Press reported that an nameless Hezbollah official confirmed his demise.
Many of the headquarters of the Lebanese department of the Syrian Baath social gathering was destroyed within the strike, as rescue and civil defence groups rushed to assist quite a few folks trapped underneath the rubble, the Nationwide Information Company reported.
The well being ministry mentioned three folks have been injured along with one killed.
ReutersThe Lebanese Baath Occasion is a department of the Syrian Baath Occasion, headed by President Bashar Al-Assad, and a long-time Hezbollah ally.
Its Lebanese headquarters are situated by a busy central intersection connecting western and jap Beirut with the town centre and the airport street, which passes via the southern suburbs.
BBC Center East correspondent Lina Sinjab mentioned the event raised concern that Israel was increasing assaults past Hezbollah army officers. Hezbollah can be a political social gathering with representatives in parliament and ministers in authorities.
“That’s actually sending alarm to folks, that there aren’t any indicators of de-escalating this case or discovering an answer, however relatively additional escalation and widening Israeli targets in opposition to Hezbollah in Lebanon,” she told BBC’s news channel.
Later on Sunday, another strike in central Beirut on Mar Elias Street killed two people and wounded 13 more, the Lebanese health ministry said.
EPAThe BBC has reached out to the IDF about the second strike in central Beirut.
Earlier on Sunday, the IDF said it had conducted strikes on six Hezbollah military targets in the southern suburbs.
In the past week, the Israeli military has intensified its attacks on Beirut, amid renewed efforts led by the US for a ceasefire in the war.
Israel already killed Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah and other top commanders and senior officials in Beirut strikes in late September, when Israel launched an offensive against the Iran-backed group.
Israel said it wanted to return tens of thousands of displaced residents to the country’s north nearly a year after Hezbollah stepped up rocket attacks in support of Palestinians after Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.
More than 3,400 people have been killed in Lebanon since then, including at least 2,600 since Israel launched a intense air campaign followed by a ground invasion in the south in late September, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
One other 1.2 million folks have been displaced.
