Hezbollah media head killed in Israeli strike on Beirut

BEIRUT (Reuters): Lebanese armed group Hezbollah confirmed its media relations chief Mohammad Afif was killed by an Israeli strike on a building in central Beirut on Sunday.

Israel has rarely hit senior Hezbollah personnel who do not have clear military roles, and its air strikes have mostly targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs where the group has its heaviest presence.

Israel’s military, which earlier declined to comment, issued a statement late on Sunday reporting it had “eliminated” Afif. The Lebanese health ministry said the strike had killed one and injured three.

A second, separate strike later on Sunday hit Mar Elias street, another central area rarely targeted by Israeli bombs, Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV reported. The Lebanese health ministry said that strike killed at least two people and wounded 22.

Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire for more than a year, since the group began launching rockets at Israeli military targets on Oct. 8, 2023. That was a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, Israeli authorities say.

In late September, Israel expanded its military campaign in Lebanon, heavily bombing the south and east and the southern suburbs of Beirut alongside ground incursions on the border.

Israel’s campaign in Lebanon has in the last year killed 3,841 people and wounded nearly 15,000 others, the Lebanese health ministry said on Sunday, a toll that did not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Hezbollah rockets fired across the border have killed dozens of Israelis, including soldiers and civilians, Israel says.

A separate assault on the Gaza Strip in Israel’s war against Hamas has killed more than 43,000 people, most of them civilians, according to Palestinian health officials.