The Israeli army killed Hamas leader Samer Mahmoud al-Hajj in an air strike in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, describing him as one of the movement’s top leaders in Lebanon.
The Israeli army said in statementSamer al-Hajj worked as a “commander of the military forces in the Ain al-Hilweh camp in Sidon,” which is about 60 kilometers from the border, and claimed that he “was responsible for recruiting fighters for the movement.”
While the movement announced in a statement that Hajj was killed in the city of Sidon, the National News Agency in Lebanon reported that a drone targeted his four-wheel drive vehicle near the southern entrance to the city.
The Public Health Emergency Operations Center, affiliated with the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, said in a statement that the Israeli raid in Sidon killed “two Palestinians,” while a Palestinian and a Lebanese were slightly injured and treated in the emergency room.
Sources told Reuters that “his bodyguard was seriously injured.”
For his part, Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said on the platform:X“The fall of Hajj was carried out by “air force raids in the Sidon area… after intelligence guidance from the Intelligence Service and the Shabak.”
Israel carries out strikes against members of Hamas, Hezbollah and other groups in Lebanon.
The exchange of fire across the border between Israel and Lebanon coincides with the war that Israel has been waging on the Gaza Strip for more than 10 months.
An Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs last January killed Hamas deputy political bureau chief Saleh al-Arouri, and another strike in the same area last week killed senior Hezbollah leader Fouad Shukr.
Hours after Shukr’s assassination, Hamas’s political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh was also assassinated in Tehran. Iran blamed Israel for his assassination and vowed “revenge.”
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