Israeli drones struck areas in eastern and southern Lebanon on Thursday, killing two Islamist militants, security sources said.
Israeli drones had attacked two vehicles, one in eastern Lebanon and one in southern Lebanon, killing a commander who worked for both the Lebanese Islamist group al-Jamaa al-Islamiya (Assembly of Islam), an ally of Hamas, and the military wing of the Palestinian militant organization in Lebanon’s Bekaa region.
A Hezbollah fighter was killed in the attack on southern Lebanon in Jbal el-Botm in the Tyre district, near Zebqine, the Hezbollah movement said.
According to the state-run National News Agency (NNA), Mohammed Hamid Jabarah was killed at 6:30 a.m. (03:30 GMT) “by an Israeli drone strike that targeted his truck,” after which the vehicle was set on fire.
“Recently, an IAF (Israeli Air Force) aircraft attacked and eliminated the terrorist Mohammed Jabarah, a Hamas operative in Lebanon, in the Beqaa area,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
“Mohammed Jabarah was responsible for carrying out terrorist attacks and rocket launches against the State of Israel, including attacks in cooperation with the terrorist organization Jamaa Islamiya.
“His elimination reduces the ability of the Hamas terrorist organization to plan and carry out attacks against the State of Israel in the northern border area,” the statement said.
Hamas mourned Jabarah in a statement, describing him as a commander.
The Israeli Defense Forces confirmed in a separate statement that the attack on southern Lebanon killed Hasan Ali Mehanna, “an operative in Hezbollah’s engineering unit involved in numerous attacks against the State of Israel.”
Israeli aircraft attacked the village of Ain el-Tineh in the Western Bekaa on Thursday, security sources said.
Earlier on Thursday, the Israeli military fired heavy machine guns at the border town of al-Wazzani, they reported, stressing that there had been no casualties.
According to Lebanese security sources in southern Lebanon who are closely monitoring the situation near the border with Israel, Israeli attacks appear to have increased on Thursday, although Hezbollah attacks have decreased over the past two days.
The group claimed on Thursday only that they had hit a guard tower in the Hadb Yarine post and in Metula in northern Israel.
In June, the Israeli military said it had killed Ayman Ratma, who was responsible for arms shipments to Hamas and al-Jamaa al-Islamiya in eastern Lebanon.
The militant group initially declined to comment. The organization is close to Hezbollah and Hamas and claims to support the Shiite Hezbollah militia in its fight against Israel.
Since the beginning of the Gaza war, there have been daily military clashes between the Israeli army and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah and other groups in Lebanon. In recent times, the fighting has escalated significantly with casualties on both sides.
