SIDON, Lebanon: Hamas said one of its commanders was killed in an Israeli strike on the south Lebanon city of Sidon on Wednesday, the latest attack despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the dawn strike killed one person.
Hamas named him as Khaled Ahmed Al-Ahmed and said he was on his way to pray.
“As we mourn our heroic martyr, we pledge to God Almighty, and then to our people and our nation, to continue on the path of resistance,” the Palestinian militant group said in a statement.
The Israeli military confirmed that it killed Ahmed, adding that he was “the head of operations in Hamas’s Western Brigade in Lebanon.”
It alleged he had been engaged in weapons smuggling and advancing “numerous” attacks against Israel.
Israel has continued to launch regular strikes in Lebanon despite the November 27 truce which sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah including two months of full-blown war.
Under the deal, Hezbollah was to pull back its fighters north of Lebanon’s Litani River, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure to its south.
Israel was to withdraw all its forces from Lebanon, but it has kept troops in five positions that it deems “strategic.”
A Lebanese security source told AFP that Hezbollah had withdrawn fighters from south of the Litani and dismantled most of its military infrastructure in the area.
Lebanon says it has respected its commitments and has called on the international community to pressure Israel to end its attacks and withdraw from the five border positions.
Last week, Lebanon’s top security body the Higher Defense Council warned Hamas against using the country for attacks on Israel.
The group has since handed over several Palestinians accused of firing rockets from Lebanon into Israel in March.
Hamas says commander killed in Israel Lebanon strike
https://arab.news/btmfk
Hamas says commander killed in Israel Lebanon strike
- The dawn strike killed one person
- The Israeli military confirmed that it killed Ahmed, adding that he was “the head of operations in Hamas’s Western Brigade in Lebanon“
Lebanon foreign minister declines Tehran visit, proposes talks in neutral country
- Lebanon’s foreign minister Youssef Raji cited ‘current conditions’ for the decision not to go to Iran
Lebanon’s foreign minister Youssef Raji said on Wednesday he had declined an invitation to visit Tehran for now, proposing instead talks with Iran in a mutually agreed neutral third country, Lebanese state news agency NNA reported.
Raji cited “current conditions” for the decision not to go to Iran, without elaborating, and stressed that the move did not mean rejection of dialogue with Iran. He did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for additional comment.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi had extended the invitation last week, seeking talks on bilateral ties.
Raji said Lebanon stood ready to open a new phase of constructive relations with Iran, on the condition that ties be based strictly on mutual respect, full recognition of each country’s independence and sovereignty, and non-interference in internal affairs under any pretext.
In an apparent reference to calls to disarm Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed movement allied for decades to Iran, Raji added that no strong state could be built unless the government held the exclusive right to hold weapons.
Hezbollah, once a dominant political force with wide influence over the Lebanese state, was severely weakened by Israeli strikes last year that ended with a US-brokered ceasefire. It has been under mounting domestic and international pressure to surrender its weapons and place all arms under state control.
In August, Iran’s top security official Ali Larijani visited Beirut, warning Lebanon not to “confuse its enemies with its friends.” In June, Foreign Minister Araqchi said Tehran sought a
“new page” in ties.
