Hezbollah, a Lebanese group, reports that one of its commanders was killed in what is thought to have been an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon.
According to reports, Wissam Tawil belonged to the elite Radwan Force of the group and was among the most well-known Hezbollah figures to be slain in the current violence.
The Israeli military said it had attacked Hezbollah targets in retaliation for cross-border attacks, but it did not provide a statement.
Fears of a larger regional conflict have increased as a result of the clashes.
Hezbollah is a political and military force in Lebanon with strong support from Iran. Israel, the UK, and other Western nations have designated it as a terrorist organisation.
Two persons, reported the state-run National News Agency of Lebanon, were slain in an Israeli airstrike that struck a car in the al-Dabsha neighbourhood of Khirbet Selim on Monday at approximately 10:15 (12:15 MUT).
Wissam Tawil was one of the people killed in the strike, according to Lebanese security sources, and the other was a fighter for Hezbollah. Hezbollah later released a statement declaring Tawil dead and calling him a “commander”. The statement “rose as a martyr on the road to Jerusalem” was all that was stated, without any confirmation that he had been killed in the strike.
In the meantime, Tawil “had a leading role in managing Hezbollah’s operations in the south” of Lebanon, according to a different source quoted by the AFP news agency.
