Jerusalem: Israeli forces killed a Hamas military official in an airstrike in Lebanon, Israeli security officials said on Monday.
In a joint statement, the Israeli military and Shin Bet domestic security agency said warplanes “struck and eliminated” Mohammad Shaheen in Sidon, a coastal city in southern Lebanon.
The statement identified Shaheen as “the head of Hamas’ Operations Department in Lebanon” and accused him of recently planning attacks against Israeli civilians from Lebanon under Iranian direction and funding. It also described him as a “significant source of knowledge” for rocket attacks from Lebanon.
Al Mayadeen, a Lebanon-based pro-Hezbollah broadcaster, reported that an Israeli drone strike targeted a car at the entrance to Sidon.
Video footage circulating on social media showed a vehicle on fire on a highway, with a black cloud of smoke rising from it.
The strike comes a day before Israel is scheduled to complete its full withdrawal of troops from Lebanon under a ceasefire agreement that ended 14 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. The Feb. 18 deadline was set after Israel and Lebanon agreed to postpone the original late-January deadline. However, Israel now insists on maintaining troops in five positions in southern Lebanon beyond the new deadline.
