Israeli airstrike kills senior Hamas figure in Lebanon

An Israeli airstrike targeted a car in southern Lebanon on Friday evening, killing Samer al-Hajj, a senior security official from the Palestinian armed group Hamas.

The attack took place on the outskirts of the Lebanese port city of Sidon, about 60 kilometers from the Israeli border.

Al-Hajj’s bodyguard was critically wounded in the strike, according to a Hamas source and two other security sources who spoke to Reuters.

This strike is part of a broader Israeli military campaign against Hamas, Hezbollah, and other factions in Lebanon, which has been ongoing for the past 10 months in conjunction with the conflict in Gaza.

These armed groups have been launching rockets, drones, and artillery attacks across the border into northern Israel.

While much of the conflict has been concentrated along the Israel-Lebanon border, Israeli strikes have targeted senior figures in Hamas, Hezbollah, and other groups further north.

In January, an Israeli strike on the outskirts of Beirut killed Saleh Arouri, Hamas’s deputy chief.

More recently, Israeli forces killed Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah’s top military commander, in a strike on the same area.

Hours after Shukr’s death, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran.

Iran and its regional allies, including Hezbollah and Hamas, have blamed Israel for these attacks and vowed retaliation.