TEL AVIV: Israel has claimed it killed a commander of the Palestinian group Hamas on Friday in a strike in the Lebanese city of Sidon that also killed his family members.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the strike as a “flagrant attack on Lebanese sovereignty” and a breach of the November 27 ceasefire with Israel.
“Overnight, the (army and the domestic security agency Shin Bet) conducted a targeted strike in the Sidon area, eliminating Hassan Farhat, commander of Hamas’s western arena in Lebanon,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
It alleged that Farhat had planned multiple attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians during the hostilities that followed the outbreak of war in Gaza in October 2023.
The strike on a flat in a residential area of Sidon killed the official and his adult son and daughter, a Palestinian official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
According to Lebanese state media, at least three people were killed in the strike. “A hostile drone raided a residential apartment… causing two successive explosions that led to a fire and extensive damage,” the state-run National News Agency reported.
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The Lebanese Prime Minister called for “maximum pressure on Israel to compel it to stop these ongoing attacks, which target various areas, many of them residential.”
Earlier this week, Israel struck southern Beirut, killing a Hezbollah Palestinian liaison officer. This was the second raid on the capital since the November ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group.
The Lebanese health ministry reported that four people were killed in the strike, including a woman.
Lebanese leaders condemned the attack, but Israel stated that it was in retaliation for recent unclaimed rocket fire, which Hezbollah denies any involvement in.
Hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah escalated into full-scale conflict last September, and despite the November 27 ceasefire, the group continues to be targeted by Israeli airstrikes.
