BEIRUT (Lebanon) (AFP) – An Israeli strike on a vehicle in the south Lebanon city of Sidon on Friday killed a Hamas commander, the Palestinian militant group and the Israeli military said.
It is the first strike of its kind in Sidon since Hamas launched its October 7 attack on Israel, triggering war in Gaza and prompting its Lebanese ally Hezbollah to begin trading near-daily cross-border fire with the Israeli army in a bid to tie down its troops.
Hamas said in a statement that its "commander" Samer al-Hajj was killed "in a Zionist strike in the city of Sidon".
In a separate statement, the group's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, called Hajj a "field commander", saying his death was an "assassination".
A Lebanese security source said "an Israeli strike targeted a Hamas movement security official from the Ain al-Helweh camp while he was inside his vehicle in the city of Sidon." The source requested anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
Ain al-Helweh and other refugee camps were created for Palestinians who were driven out or fled during the 1948 war that accompanied Israel's creation.
The Israeli military said that its aircraft struck the Sidon area and "eliminated" Hajj, whom it identified as "a senior commander" for Hamas in Lebanon.
It said Hajj "was responsible for advancing terror attacks and projectile launches from Lebanon toward Israeli territory", and that he was "the military forces' commander in the Ain al-Helweh camp... and was responsible for the recruitment and training" of operatives.
'DRONE'
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said an "enemy drone" carried out the deadly strike, which it said also wounded "two civilians".
An AFP correspondent saw emergency personnel pull a charred body from the vehicle while soldiers cordoned off the area.
Hamas channels on the Telegram messaging app circulated videos purportedly of young men chanting and marching through the Ain al-Helweh camp after the strike.
Israel has repeatedly targeted Hamas officials in Lebanon since the Gaza war erupted 10 months ago, with 18 fighters from the group killed in Lebanon since then, according to an AFP tally.
A strike in January, which a US defence official said was carried out by Israel, killed Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Aruri and six other militants in Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold.
In March, Hamas said one of its members was killed in an Israeli strike in south Lebanon that state media said killed three people.
In May, Hamas said a "commander" was killed in an Israeli strike on an eastern district of Lebanon near the Syrian border.
Ten months of cross-border violence has killed some 562 people in Lebanon, most of them fighters but also including at least 116 civilians, according to the AFP tally.
On the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan Heights, 22 soldiers and 26 civilians have been killed, according to army figures.