Hamas official killed in Israeli drone strike near Tyre
An Israeli drone strike targeted Wednesday a car in southern Lebanon near the coastal city of Tyre, killing a member of the Palestinian militant Hamas group and a civilian.
Hamas said the strike killed Hadi Mustafa, a member of its armed wing in Lebanon from the Palestinian refugee camp of Rashidiyeh.
The Israeli army said in a statement that it carried out a strike in the Tyre area. It described Mustafa as a "significant operative" behind attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets around the world.
An AFP photographer saw the mangled wreck of a car engulfed by flames near the camp, on the al-Hosh Road, south of the city of Tyre.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the other person killed was a Syrian citizen who was on a motorcycle near the targeted car. It also said two people were wounded in the strike.
The strike came a day after a pair of Israeli airstrikes hit deep into Lebanese territory, killing a Hezbollah member and another person, and wounding 20 people.
Israeli warplanes and artillery also targeted Wednesday Marjayoun, Yater, al-Qantara, and the outskirts of Naqoura.
Since hostilities began, at least 321 people have been killed in Lebanon, mainly Hezbollah fighters but also including 55 civilians, according to an AFP tally.
In Israel, at least 10 soldiers and seven civilians have been killed in the cross-border exchanges, the military says.
A strike in January, which a U.S. defence official said was carried out by Israel, killed Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri and six militants in Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold -- the most high-profile Hamas figure to be killed during the war.
In February, security sources told AFP a senior Hamas officer had survived an assassination attempt south of Beirut.
Source: Naharnet
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