A Hamas commander was killed in an Israeli attack on a vehicle in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon on Friday, the Palestinian militant group and the Israeli military said.
It is the first such attack in Sidon since Hamas launched an Oct. 7 attack on Israel, sparking a war in Gaza and prompting Lebanese ally Hezbollah to engage in near-daily cross-border fire with the Israeli military in an effort to keep its forces in check.
Hamas said in a statement that its “commander” Samer al-Hajj was killed “during a Zionist attack in the city of Sidon.”
In a separate statement, the group's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, called Hajj a “commander on the ground” and said his death was an “assassination.”
A Lebanese security source reported that “an Israeli strike targeted a Hamas security officer in the Ain al-Helweh camp while he was in his vehicle in the city of Sidon.” The source asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Ain al-Helweh and other refugee camps were established for Palestinians who were expelled or fled during the 1948 war that coincided with the creation of Israel.
The Israeli military said its planes had struck the area around Sidon and “eliminated” Hajj, whom the military identified as “a senior commander” of Hamas in Lebanon.
It said that Hadj was “responsible for carrying out terrorist attacks and launching projectiles from Lebanon into Israeli territory” and that he was “the commander of forces in the Ain al-Helweh camp… and was responsible for the recruitment and training” of operatives.
– 'Drone' –
According to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, the deadly attack was carried out by an “enemy drone,” which also injured “two civilians.”
An AFP correspondent saw rescuers remove a charred body from the vehicle as soldiers cordoned off the area.
Hamas channels on the messaging app Telegram circulated videos allegedly showing young men chanting and marching through the camp in Ain al-Helweh after the attack.
Israel has repeatedly attacked Hamas officials in Lebanon since the Gaza war broke out 10 months ago. According to an AFP tally, 18 of the group's fighters have been killed in Lebanon since then.
A January attack, which a U.S. defense official said was carried out by Israel, killed Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Aruri and six other militants in Hezbollah's southern stronghold of Beirut.
In March, Hamas reported that one of its members had been killed in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon. State media said three people had been killed.
In May, Hamas reported that a “commander” had been killed in an Israeli raid on an eastern district of Lebanon, near the border with Syria.
According to AFP figures, 562 people have been killed in 10 months of cross-border violence in Lebanon, most of them fighters, but at least 116 civilians have also been involved.
On the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan Heights, 22 soldiers and 26 civilians were killed, according to army figures.
strs-lar/lg/ami
