BEIRUT: A Lebanese security source said an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the southern city of Sidon on Friday killed a Hamas security official from the nearby Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp.
It is the first strike of its kind in Sidon since the Palestinian group launched its October 7 attack on Israel, triggering war in Gaza and prompting its Lebanese ally Hezbollah to begin trading near-daily cross-border fire with the Israeli army in a bid to tie down its troops.
“An Israeli strike targeted a Hamas movement security official from the Ain al-Helweh camp while he was inside his vehicle in the city of Sidon,” the source said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
An AFP correspondent saw emergency personnel pull a charred body from the vehicle while soldiers cordoned off the area.
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Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency identified the Hamas security official and “commander” as Samer al-Hajj, adding that “two civilians were wounded” in the strike, which it said was carried out by an “enemy drone”.
Hamas channels on the Telegram messaging app circulated video of young men marching through what it said was the Ain al-Helweh camp “after a Hamas martyr rose in the bombardment of his vehicle by an Israeli drone”.
Ain al-Helweh and other refugee camps were created for Palestinians who were driven out or fled during the 1948 war that accompanied Israel’s creation.
Israel has repeatedly targeted Hamas officials in Lebanon since the Gaza war erupted 10 months ago.
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 in Hezbollah’s south Beirut stronghold.
In March, Hamas said one of its members was killed in an Israeli strike in south Lebanon that state media said killed three people.
In May, Hamas said a “commander” was killed in an Israeli strike on an eastern district of Lebanon near the Syrian border.
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