IDF strike in Lebanon kills Hamas commander; reservist hurt in drone attack dies
An Israeli airstrike in eastern Lebanon on Thursday morning killed a Hamas commander, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Both Hamas, the Gaza Strip-based Palestinian terror group, and al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya, or Islamic Group, a Lebanese terror group, claimed Muhammed Jabara as a member and a commander.
Jabara, from the Lebanese town of Qaraoun, was struck while driving in the village of Ghazzeh, in the Western Beqaa District, around 40 kilometers (24 miles) from the Israeli border.
In a statement, the IDF confirmed striking Jabara, saying he was a Hamas commander responsible for advancing and carrying out attacks, including rocket fire, on northern Israel.
Jabara’s killing was a blow to the ability of Hamas to carry out attacks against Israel, the IDF added.
The IDF said Jabara worked alongside al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya, which had also claimed him as a member.
Al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya, like Hamas, is a Sunni faction that forms part of the broader Muslim Brotherhood political network. The armed wing of the group, the al-Fajr Forces, has repeatedly targeted Israel from Lebanon in the current war, often working in conjunction with the Shiite Hezbollah terror group.
Also on Thursday, the IDF said it killed a Hezbollah operative in a drone strike in southern Lebanon.
According to the IDF, Hassan Muhanna was a prominent member of Hezbollah’s engineering unit in the Qana region of southern Lebanon, and was involved in a series of attacks against Israel.
The strike was reported near the village of Jabal al-Botm in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah confirmed the death of Muhanna.
The IDF said fighter jets also struck Hezbollah infrastructure in the Ain al-Tineh area in the Western Beqaa District, around 25 kilometers from the Israeli border, on Thursday.
Two Hezbollah military posts in southern Lebanon were also hit, the military added.
Separately, an Israeli soldier seriously wounded in a Hezbollah drone attack on a military base in northern Israel last month succumbed to his wounds on Thursday, the IDF.
The slain soldier was named as Sgt. First Class (res.) Efraim Ben Amram, 25, of the 188th Armored Brigade’s 53rd Battalion, from Yesud HaMa’ala.
Ben Amram was among 19 troops hurt in the drone attack against an army base in the Merom Golan area on June 30.
Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.
So far, the skirmishes have resulted in 12 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 18 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
Hezbollah has named 368 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 67 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have been killed.
Israel has warned that it can no longer tolerate Hezbollah’s presence along its border, with tens of thousands of Israelis displaced from their homes in the north due to the rocket and drone attacks, and has warned that, should a diplomatic solution not be reached, it will turn to military action to push Hezbollah northward.
While the political leadership has not yet made a decision on launching an offensive in Lebanon and turning the Gaza Strip into the secondary front, the IDF has said it continues to target Hezbollah commanders who were behind attacks on Israel.
Source » timesofisrael.com
