Israel says 2 Hezbollah commanders, 1 jihadist killed

The Israeli air force says it has eliminated two commanders of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in targeted killings in Lebanon as well as a jihadist in the Gaza Strip.

One attack took place in Baraachit in southern Lebanon, according to a statement from the army issued on Monday.

The dead man was said to have been responsible for planning and executing attacks with rockets and anti-tank missiles on Israeli troops.

The other man was killed near the village of Sultaniya, the armed forces said.

He had been involved in a significant number of attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers, as well as arms smuggling, the statement said.

In the Gaza Strip meanwhile, the Israeli air force killed a member of the military intelligence department of the Palestinian terrorist organization Islamic Jihad, according to the military.

The man had participated in the October 7, 2003 massacre in the Israeli border area and was involved in attacks on the Israeli community of Kfar Aza, according to the IDF.

“An additional terrorist was eliminated alongside him,” it said.

The claims could not be independently verified.

The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented terrorist attack on southern Israel launched by the Palestinian militant Hamas organisation and others on October 7, 2023.

More than 1,200 people were killed and around 250 were taken hostage to the Gaza Strip after the October attack.

No fewer than 43,300 people have been killed and over 102,000 injured so far in the ensuing Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry.

The figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

However, a third of them are children and youths under 18, according to the ministry.