Israeli airstrike kills several elite Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon

An Israeli airstrike killed a commander and other militants from Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force late Thursday in southern Lebanon, according to the group and Israel's military.

Hezbollah confirmed the death of one of its commanders, Ali Jaafar Maatouq, also known as Habib Maatouq. Israel said in a statement it had killed Maatouq and another Radwan Force commander, as well as other members of Hezbollah's secretive special forces, which operate along the border.

Earlier in the day, two separate drone strikes in southern Lebanon and another in the eastern Bekaa Valley killed a Hezbollah member and an official of the Sunni Muslim al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, or the Islamic Group, which has close links to the Palestinian group Hamas and is also allied with Hezbollah.

The three separate targeted killings in one day were a rare spike in violence on the Lebanon-Israel border, where Hezbollah and Israel have been fighting for more than nine months.

Hezbollah began firing rockets shortly after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, saying it aimed to ease pressure on Gaza. Since then, Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have killed over 450 people, mostly Hezbollah members but also around 90 civilians and non-combatants. On the Israeli side, 21 soldiers and 13 civilians have been killed.