BEIRUT: A former personal bodyguard to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was among several militia members killed in a series of Israeli drone strikes on Tuesday.
The first Israeli strike hit a vehicle on the Damascus-Beirut highway inside Syria, killing two Hezbollah members, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Hezbollah later issued a statement mourning Yasser Nimr Qarnabsh, 53, from the town of Zawtar El-Charkieh in southern Lebanon.
Media reports said Qarnabsh was lately involved in transporting men and weapons for the group from Syria.
He was previously one of Nasrallah’s main bodyguards and had taken part in “significant military operations,” the reports said.
Within minutes of the first drone strike, a second Israeli drone destroyed a car in the town of Yahfoufa, which overlooks the Syrian border.
In recent weeks, Israel has stepped up daily attacks on Hezbollah fighters in the border confrontation towns.
More than 370 Hezbollah members have died in nine months of fighting, including paramedics from Hezbollah’s Islamic Health Organization, 16 from the Amal Movement, seven from the Islamic Group, and one from the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, in addition to deaths from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.
Hezbollah has lost three of its military unit commanders: Sami Taleb Abdullah, head of the Nasr Unit; Mohammed Naameh Nasser, head of the Aziz Unit; and Wissam Al-Tawil, head of the Radwan Force.
Alongside them, a large number of second-tier field leaders and specialists involved in the July 2006 war and the war in Syria after 2011 have been killed.
Israeli drones targeted the town square of Aita Al-Shaab with a guided missile.
The outskirts of the town of Dhayra were hit by artillery shelling, while an Israeli airstrike targeted the town of Rab El Thalathine, injuring three people.
In response, Hezbollah said that it destroyed newly installed espionage equipment at the Hadb Yarin site with a guided missile.
Southern border towns were hit by artillery fire at dawn on Tuesday, with more than 15 shells fired within minutes.
Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lazaro, UNIFIL head of mission, held talks with Prime Minister Najib Mikati, parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, and army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun on cooperation between peacekeeping forces and the Lebanese army in the area south of the Litani River.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah on Tuesday released further footage captured by a drone in Israeli airspace that showed sensitive military and security sites in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.
Footage aired three weeks ago included military and security bases in northern areas, from Nahariya to Haifa.
The latest footage revealed six electronic surveillance stations in the northern and eastern areas of Israel, with one in Shebaa Farms and five in the Golan Heights.
All six form part of Israeli intelligence and early warning capabilities, known as “Eyes of the State.”
Hezbollah said that the bases carry out “eavesdropping, guidance, and long-range monitoring, as well as electronic attacks, such as jamming and deception.”
According to Hezbollah’s military media, the sites of Astra, Shalagim East, Yisra’ili, Avital, and Tel Fares can also be seen in the footage, as well as the leadership headquarters and camps of Habushit, Maale Golani Barracks, Zaoura Barracks, Keila Barracks, Rawiyah Base, Aliqa Barracks, Nafah Base, Snowbar Base, Katsaviya Barracks, Gamla Barracks, Ofek Airport, and Ofek Camp.
