Senior Hezbollah commander and three fighters killed in Israeli strike on Jwaya

An Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon overnight Tuesday resulted in the death of a senior Hezbollah commander, according to the group. The commander, identified as Taleb Abdallah (also known as Abu Taleb), was born in 1969.

A Lebanese military source described Abdallah as the most significant Hezbollah leader killed since the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began, which has also escalated tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border. The source added that the strike occurred in the town of Jwaya, about 15 kilometers from the Israeli border, and resulted in the deaths of three other individuals.

Hezbollah subsequently confirmed the deaths of three additional fighters.

Since the onset of the Gaza war, which was triggered by Hamas’ attack on October 7, Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, has been engaged in near-daily exchanges of fire with Israeli forces. The intensity of these exchanges has increased in recent days, leading to numerous brush fires on both sides of the border.

The Israeli military, without directly addressing Tuesday’s strike, reported hitting several Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon following a barrage of “50 launches” by Hezbollah into the Golan Heights on Tuesday morning.

More than eight months of cross-border violence have resulted in the deaths of at least 467 people in Lebanon, including nearly 90 civilians and over 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to AFP counts. On the Israeli side, at least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed. The ongoing conflict has also displaced tens of thousands of people.

Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel was “prepared for a very intense operation” along the border with Lebanon, affirming that “one way or another, we will restore security to the north.”