Israel says killed key Hezbollah operative in drone strike

A member of Hezbollah has been killed by an Israeli drone strike on a car in southern Lebanon, the country's state-run National News Agency reported.

The airstrike came as Hezbollah has not claimed any attack on northern Israel since Saturday night, apparently because of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha that began Sunday morning.

The drop in Hezbollah attacks also came shortly before a visit to the region by a top U.S. official for talks on calming tensions on the border. Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden, arrived in Israel Monday and was meeting with Lebanese officials in Beirut on Tuesday. He has made several trips to the region in recent months.

Hezbollah issued a statement on Monday identifying the member killed in the drone strike near the village of Shehabiyeh as Mohammad Ayoub.

The Israeli military said Ayoub was a key operative in Hezbollah’s rocket and missile department in the group’s Nasr Unit, which is active along the border. It said Ayoub was involved in recent months in promoting and planning attacks from southern Lebanon against Israel.

Israel said it killed Ayoub as part of its activities “to impede Hezbollah’s military build-up in terms of weaponry and its stockpiling of weapons” that would be used against Israel.

After Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza broke out in October, the Lebanese-Israeli border has witnessed almost daily exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israeli troops. Hezbollah says it will only stop fighting when Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip ends.

Since Oct. 8., more than 400 people have been killed in Lebanon — most of them Hezbollah fighters but also more than 70 civilians and non-combatants. On the Israeli side, at least 15 soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed.