Israeli Drone Strike Kills Fatah Official in Sidon

An Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon killed a Fatah official on Wednesday, according to a senior member of the Palestinian group and a security source. This incident marks the first reported attack on Fatah, the group led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, amid more than 10 months of cross-border clashes between Israel and Hezbollah.

Fathi Abu al-Aradat, a senior member of Fatah, confirmed that Khalil Maqdah, a group official, was killed in the strike. A Lebanese security source corroborated this, stating that the strike targeted Maqdah’s car. An AFP correspondent at the scene reported that the vehicle was hit near the Palestinian camps of Ain al-Helweh and Mieh Mieh, with rescuers retrieving a body from the burned car.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported that Maqdah was killed in a drone strike on his vehicle. Mounir Maqdah, the leader of the Lebanese branch of Fatah’s armed wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, confirmed to Al-Mayadeen that his brother Khalil had been killed, stating that he was a commander within the Brigades.

Israeli officials have accused Mounir Maqdah of aiding in the smuggling of weapons into the West Bank. Since the conflict between Israel and Hamas erupted following Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, Hezbollah and its allies, including Hamas, have engaged in regular exchanges of fire with Israel. However, Fatah has neither claimed any attacks on Israel from Lebanon since the clashes began nor acknowledged any members killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon.

Fatah and Hamas have been longstanding rivals, with tensions escalating after Hamas expelled Fatah from the Gaza Strip following violent clashes in 2007. Fatah currently controls the Palestinian Authority, which holds partial administrative control in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.