Israel strike on north Lebanon kills Hamas commander and his family

AFP , Saturday 5 Oct 2024

Palestinian group Hamas said an Israeli strike killed one of its commanders in a refugee camp in Tripoli in northern Lebanon Saturday, the first time the area had been hit since the start of Israel's war on Gaza.

Lebanon
Photo of an Israeli overnight airstrike targeting an apartment building in Beddawi camp as circulated on X.

 

"Commander" Saeed Attallah Ali, his wife and two daughters were killed in "Zionist bombardment of his house in the Beddawi camp" near Tripoli, the group said.

Tripoli is a Sunni-majority port city.

Israel has sharply expanded its strikes on Lebanon in recent weeks after nearly a year of exchanging fire with Lebanon's resistance group Hezbollah.

Israel has repeatedly targeted Hamas officials in Lebanon since it launched its war on Gaza almost a year ago.

Hamas has announced the deaths of at least 18 of its fighters in Lebanon since then.

The group said an air strike on Monday killed its leader in Lebanon Fatah Sharif Abu al-Amine in his home in the Al-Bass camp in south Lebanon.

In August, an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the south Lebanon city of Sidon killed Hamas commander Samer al-Hajj.

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 fighters in Beirut's southern suburbs.

Lebanon's dozen Palestinian refugee camps were created for those who were forcefully displaced and exiled from their lands in 1948 during the wars and massacres that accompanied Israel's creation.

By longstanding convention, the Lebanese army stays out of the camps and leaves the Palestinian factions to handle security.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.

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