Muhammad Nimah Nasser is at the least the third senior commander killed in cross-border combating since October.
Hezbollah says a prime commander has been killed in an Israeli assault in southern Lebanon, at the least the third high-ranking official within the group to be killed in virtually 9 months of cross-border combating that has sparked fears of wider regional escalation.
The Lebanese armed group on Wednesday stated that Muhammad Nimah Nasser, also called “Hajj Abu Naameh”, had been killed. The Iran-aligned group later stated it had launched 100 katyusha rockets focusing on Israeli army positions.
The announcement of Nasser’s loss of life on the group’s Telegram didn’t present the situation, however a supply beforehand informed Al Jazeera {that a} commander had been killed within the Hosh space in Tyre in southern Lebanon. A supply near the group confirmed to the AFP information company that Nasser had been killed within the Tyre assault.
The supply stated that Nasser had the identical rank as Taleb Abdallah, one other prime commander who was killed by an Israeli assault in June. On the time, Abdallah was the highest-ranking Hezbollah army official killed for the reason that group started combating Israel on October 8 in response to bombardment of Gaza. Following Abdallah’s killing, Hezbollah launched one in all its largest rocket barrages on northern Israel.
The Israeli army confirmed it focused Nasser, and stated he was a “counterpart” of Abdallah and in control of Hezbollah’s “antitank and rocket hearth from southwest Lebanon”.
The most recent assaults come amid an uptick in combating and charged rhetoric between Hezbollah and Israeli officers that has despatched US, European, and Arab mediators scrambling to stop a wider regional escalation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in late June that Israeli forces should shift their focus to northern Israel, whereas far-right Israeli ministers referred to as for a full-scale invasion of territory managed by Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Protection Minister Yoav Gallant has stated Israel is in search of to stop a wider conflict, however warned that its army has the capability to take “Lebanon again to the Stone Age”.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah stated the group was prepared for conflict with “no restraint and no guidelines and no ceilings” within the occasion of a serious Israeli assault.
For its half, Iran has warned that “all Resistance Fronts” would confront Israel if it assaults Lebanon, referring to the armed teams it helps all through the area.
On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop a “conflagration” between Israel and Hezbollah.
Macron “reiterated his critical concern over a deepening of tensions between Hezbollah and Israel … and underscored absolutely the want to stop a conflagration that might hurt the pursuits of Lebanon in addition to Israel,” the French presidency stated in an announcement.
In the meantime, US Envoy Amos Hochstein, who has made repeated visits to Lebanon in current months, was additionally set to reach in Paris on Wednesday to satisfy Macron’s Lebanon envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian.
Gallant stated on Wednesday that assaults had been persevering with, including the army will “attain a state of full readiness to take any motion required in Lebanon or to succeed in an association from a place of power”.
Shortly earlier than he spoke, Israeli fighter jets had bombed a number of villages in southern Lebanon in a single day, together with Yaroun, Tayr Harfa and Aitaroun.
A day earlier, Hezbollah deputy commander Sheikh Naim Kassem stated the group would cease combating “with none dialogue” if a full ceasefire is reached in Gaza – a place it has maintained for the reason that starting of the conflict.
Not less than 543 individuals, together with 88 civilians, have been killed by Israeli assaults in Lebanon, whereas at the least 21 Israelis, together with 10 civilians, have been killed in assaults by Hezbollah and different armed teams in Lebanon for the reason that starting of the conflict.
Not less than 37,953 individuals have been killed in Israel’s conflict on Gaza since October, in keeping with Palestinian well being authorities. Israel launched the assault after a Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on October 7 that killed at the least 1,139 individuals, in keeping with an Al Jazeera tally primarily based on Israeli statistics.
