ReutersHezbollah media chief Mohamed Afif has been killed in an Israeli military attack in central Beirut, the Lebanese militant group has confirmed.
Lebanese state news agency reported that strikes attacked the headquarters of the Ba’ath political party in the densely populated Ras al-Naba district on Sunday.
The country’s Health Ministry announced that four people had died, but did not name the victims.
Afif, one of the group’s few public faces, was last seen on Monday at a press conference in the southern suburbs of Beirut, where the group is based.
Hezbollah confirmed the death Sunday night, hours after it was first reported.
Much of the headquarters of the Lebanese branch of the Syrian Ba’ath Party was destroyed in the airstrike, and rescue and civil defense teams rushed to rescue scores of people trapped under the rubble, state news agencies reported.
The Ministry of Health announced that four people were killed and 14 others were injured.
ReutersThe Lebanese Ba’ath Party is an offshoot of the Syrian Ba’ath Party, headed by President Bashar al-Assad, and a longtime ally of Hezbollah.
Its Lebanese headquarters is located near a busy central intersection that connects Beirut’s western and eastern regions with the airport road that runs through the city center and southern suburbs.
BBC Middle East correspondent Lina Sinjab said the developments had raised concerns that Israel was expanding its attacks beyond Hezbollah military personnel. Hezbollah is also a political party with parliamentary representation and government ministers.
“This is really alarming. There is no sign that this situation is going to subside or that a solution will be found, but rather that Israel’s targeting of Hezbollah in Lebanon will further escalate and expand,” she said. told the BBC News Channel.
Two people were killed and 13 more injured in a new strike on Mar Elias Street in central Beirut late Sunday, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.
EPAThe BBC has contacted the IDF about the second attack in central Beirut.
Earlier on Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces announced it had attacked six Hezbollah military targets in the southern suburbs.
Israeli forces have stepped up attacks on Beirut over the past week amid renewed efforts to reach a US-led ceasefire.
Israel has already launched an offensive against the Iranian-backed group in late September, killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other top commanders and officials in Beirut.
Israel wants to return tens of thousands of displaced people to the north of the country, nearly a year after Hezbollah stepped up rocket attacks in support of Palestinians following Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. said.
More than 3,400 people have died in Lebanon since then, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, including at least 2,600 since Israel launched an intense air campaign following a ground invasion in the south in late September. Included.
Another 1.2 million people were evacuated.
