Hezbollah spokesman killed in Israeli strike in Beirut – reports

Hezbollah’s media chief Mohammed Afif has been killed in an Israeli strike in central Beirut, in line with information stories citing Lebanese safety sources.

A strike hit the headquarters of the Baath political celebration within the densely populated Ras al-Naba neighbourhood on Sunday, in line with Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.

The nation’s well being ministry stated one individual was killed, however didn’t identify the sufferer.

Afif, one of many few remaining public faces of the group, was final seen on Monday, when he gave a press convention in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the place the group is predicated.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Hezbollah didn’t instantly touch upon the stories.

The BBC has contacted the IDF.

Reuters and the AFP information company each reported that Afif was killed in Sunday’s strike, citing Lebanese safety sources. The Associated Press reported that an nameless Hezbollah official confirmed his loss of life.

Most of the headquarters of the Lebanese department of the Syrian Baath celebration was destroyed within the strike, as rescue and civil defence groups rushed to help numerous individuals trapped beneath the rubble, the National News Agency reported.

The well being ministry stated three individuals have been injured along with one killed.

The Lebanese Baath Party is a department of the Syrian Baath Party, headed by President Bashar Al-Assad, and a long-time Hezbollah ally.

Its Lebanese headquarters are situated by a busy central intersection connecting western and japanese Beirut with the town centre and the airport street, which passes by the southern suburbs.

BBC Middle East correspondent Lina Sinjab stated the event raised concern that Israel was increasing assaults past Hezbollah army officers. Hezbollah can be a political celebration with representatives in parliament and ministers in authorities.

“That is basically sending alarm to individuals, that there are not any indicators of de-escalating this example or discovering an answer, however moderately additional escalation and widening Israeli targets towards Hezbollah in Lebanon,” she told BBC’s news channel.

Later on Sunday, another strike in central Beirut on Mar Elias Street killed two people and wounded 13 more, the Lebanese health ministry said.

The BBC has reached out to the IDF about the second strike in central Beirut.

Earlier on Sunday, the IDF said it had conducted strikes on six Hezbollah military targets in the southern suburbs.

In the past week, the Israeli military has intensified its attacks on Beirut, amid renewed efforts led by the US for a ceasefire in the war.

Israel already killed Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah and other top commanders and senior officials in Beirut strikes in late September, when Israel launched an offensive against the Iran-backed group.

Israel said it wanted to return tens of thousands of displaced residents to the country’s north nearly a year after Hezbollah stepped up rocket attacks in support of Palestinians after Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.

More than 3,400 people have been killed in Lebanon since then, including at least 2,600 since Israel launched a intense air campaign followed by a ground invasion in the south in late September, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Another 1.2 million individuals have been displaced.