Mohammad Afif, Hezbollah media chief Image credit source: Carl Court/Getty Images
The tension that began between Israel and Hezbollah shows no signs of ending. Israel carried out an airstrike against Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, on Sunday. In this airstrike, Israel killed Hezbollah’s main spokesman.
Both the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah have confirmed that chief spokesman Mohammad Afif has been killed. Afif “exerted significant influence on Hezbollah’s military operations” and glorified and incited Hezbollah’s attacks against Israel, the Israeli military said in a statement.
What did Hezbollah say?
Hezbollah said after the death of its main spokesman that the building where Afif was attacked housed the office of the Syrian Baath Party. He also said that the IDF had not given any warning before the attack. Israel carried out the attack without warning because it was an assassination and Hezbollah’s infrastructure was not the target.
Afif rose to prominence following the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as Israel’s attacks on Lebanon in September. Last month, IDF spokesman Col. Avichai Adrai issued an evacuation order for residents in the area ahead of the airstrike. After this, Afif had said that threats and bombings do not scare us. Our determination is strong.
50 Hezbollah targets were attacked
Israel said after attacking Lebanon on Sunday that it had completed a series of airstrikes against Hezbollah positions in Dahiyah. According to the army, the fighter jets also attacked the command room and other infrastructure. Before the attack, the IDF had warned civilians to leave the area. In recent days, Israel has attacked 50 Hezbollah positions.
Nasrallah’s apartment was also attacked.
According to the IDF, Israel also attacked the apartment that previously belonged to Nasrallah in Saturday’s attacks on Beirut. The military said Nasrallah’s house was attacked during the Second Lebanon War in 2006. The house was largely destroyed in this attack and was later rebuilt. The IDF said Hezbollah was currently using the apartment for its activities. However, now Israel targeted this apartment.
Lebanon said Sunday night that 11 people were killed and 48 wounded in attacks on Hezbollah’s stronghold of Tire in the country’s south. At the same time, the war between Israel and Gaza shows no signs of stopping.
