Beirut: Israeli Air Force jets on Saturday eliminated Mohammad Hossein Ali al-Mahmoud, who served as the operational arm of the Hamas militant group in Lebanon, announced the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). Israel has killed several Hamas officials in Lebanon since the Israel-Hamas war began in October 2023.
According to The Jerusalem Post, he was mainly responsible for directing terrorist activities in the West Bank. However, Ali al-Mahmoud has also been involved in Hamas's efforts to establish a foothold in Lebanon, which included supplying weapons for rocket fire toward Israel. He has been involved in trying to manufacture advanced weaponry as well.
Israel also eliminated Said Alaa Naif Ali, another Hamas official in Lebanon who led attacks against Israeli targets and worked to recruit operatives into the ranks of the group in Lebanon. "Their elimination constitutes an injury to the ability of the terrorist organization Hamas in Lebanon to promote and carry out terrorist acts against the State of Israel and its citizens," said the IDF.
This came after an Israeli strike on a refugee camp in north Lebanon has killed Hamas official Saeed Atallah Ali and his family, the militant group said Saturday. The early morning strike came a day after another Israeli airstrike cut off a main highway linking Lebanon with Syria, leaving two huge craters on either side of the road.
Hamas said in a statement that the early Saturday strike on the Beddawi refugee camp struck the home of Saeed Atallah Ali, an official with Hamas's military wing, the Qassam Brigades. Ali's wife, Shaymaa Azzam, and their two daughters, Zeinab and Fatima — whom the statement described as children — were also killed in the attack. Beddawi camp is near the northern city of Tripoli.
Israel keeps up attacks in Lebanon
Israel expanded its conflict in Lebanon on Saturday with its first strike in the northern city of Tripoli, a Lebanese security official said, after more bombs hit Beirut suburbs and Israeli troops launched raids in the south. Israel has begun an intense bombing campaign in Lebanon and sent troops across the border in recent weeks after nearly a year of exchanging fire with Hezbollah.
Fighting had previously been mostly limited to the Israel-Lebanon border area, taking place in parallel to Israel's year-old war in Gaza against Palestinian group Hamas. Israel says it aims to allow the safe return of tens of thousands of citizens to their homes in northern Israel, bombarded by Hezbollah since October 8 last year.
The Israeli attacks have eliminated much of Hezbollah's senior military leadership, including Secretary General Nasrallah in an air attack on September 27. The Israeli assault has also killed hundreds of ordinary Lebanese, including rescue workers, Lebanese officials say, and forced 1.2 million people - almost a quarter of the population - to flee their homes.
Israel's army claimed to eliminate 250 Hezbollah members, including its commander Mohammed Rashid Sakafi. The air attack on Beirut, part of a wider assault that has driven more than 1.2 million Lebanese from their homes, was reported to have targeted the potential successor to the leader of Iran-backed Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, killed by Israel a week ago. Hashem Safieddine's fate was unclear and neither Israel nor Hezbollah have offered any comment.
(with agency input)
ALSO READ | Israeli airstrike kills Hamas military leader Saeed Atallah Ali, his family in Lebanon
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