Lebanese “Hezbollah” announced the fall of three leaders in its ranks on Tuesday-Wednesday night, following an Israeli offensive in southern Lebanon, while a military source said one of the leaders is considered the most senior in the party. Beginning of expansion eight months ago.
Besides Muhammad Hussain Sabra and Ali Salim Soufan, Hezbollah said in a statement that the group’s main leader, Talib Sami Abdullah, nicknamed “Abu Talib” (55 years old), was also killed.
At least four people, including a senior Hezbollah field commander, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the village of Zoya in southern Lebanon late on Tuesday, three security sources told Reuters.
The sources identified the group as its leader in the central part of the southern border region, which includes some of the towns hardest hit by the firefight between Israel and Hezbollah over the past eight months.
“The highest-ranking leader in the party has fallen since the beginning of the enlargement” between the two parties, Agence France-Presse reported, citing a military source.
Almost 300 Hezbollah fighters, including leaders and members of key positions, have been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since last October, soon after the Gaza war broke out.
Expansion of the Lebanon-Israel border
The pace of attacks has increased between the two sides in recent weeks, and Hezbollah has fired mortars and missiles at the Israeli army, hitting targets 50 kilometers inside Israel’s borders.
Israeli Northern Command commander General Oren Kordin said “Israel will continue to fight on the Lebanese front until the mission is completed, returning to the north with a sense of safety and security.”
A senior Israeli official said the situation has been escalating since last May as Hezbollah succeeded in launching drone strikes against Israeli targets and “the Israeli military has failed to intercept them.”
At the same time, Hezbollah began launching Burkhan missiles with 1,200-pound warheads that could cause significant damage to Israeli military bases along the border.
In a call with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Galant, on Tuesday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed his concern over tensions on the border between Israel and Lebanon.
The US Department of Defense (Pentagon) said in a statement that the two sides discussed efforts to ease tensions along the border between Israel and Lebanon.
