Hizbollah chief spokesperson killed in Israeli strike on central Beirut

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An Israeli air strike on central Beirut killed Hizbollah’s media relations chief on Sunday, as Israel’s military pummelled the capital’s southern suburbs amid a push by the US and other countries for a diplomatic resolution.  

A spokesperson for the Iran-backed militant group confirmed Mohammad Afif’s death in the strike on the Arab Socialist Ba’ath party headquarters in a central Beirut neighbourhood bordering predominantly Christian areas. 

Afif, who was Hizbollah’s chief spokesperson, is the latest senior figure to be killed by Israel in a campaign that also claimed the life of its leader Hassan Nasrallah in September.

Afif helped craft Hizbollah’s public narrative and was its most visible official over the past two months, holding press conferences against a backdrop of bombed buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where the group has a big presence.

Afif’s assassination underscores how Israel’s military offensive has broadened, with targets including Hizbollah-linked media channels along with the group’s financial institutions and healthcare centres. 

The Arab Socialist Ba’ath group is the party of the Assad family, which has ruled Syria since 1963. Along with Russia and Iran, Hizbollah has helped prop up the rule of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad during the country’s 13-year civil war.

Lebanese health authorities said in an initial assessment that the strike in central Beirut had killed one person and wounded three others, but local media reported the toll was likely to climb. The Israeli military declined to comment on the attack.

A second Israeli air raid on central Beirut followed several hours later, hitting an electronics store in a neighbourhood full of shops and residential buildings.

The attack was audible across the city, and fire fighters were struggling to contain a resulting blaze on Sunday night.

The target of the strike was not immediately known, but Lebanese health authorities said two people have been killed and 13 others injured. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Although Israel has stepped up bombings of Beirut’s southern suburbs in the past week, the strikes in the heart of the Lebanese capital came without warning and were the first in that area for more than a month.

It comes as Lebanese political leaders consider a US-drafted ceasefire deal. A Lebanese government official said on Saturday that the US proposal was for a 60-day ceasefire based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the last Israel-Hizbollah war in 2006 and calls for Hizbollah’s disarmament in the border regions and Israel’s withdrawal.

Under the agreement, the Lebanese armed forces would be the sole armed element south of the Litani river, about 30km from the border.

The Lebanese military said on Sunday that an Israeli air strike on an army post in the southern Lebanese town of Al Mari had killed one soldier and wounded three others, leaving one in a critical condition. Israel’s military declined to comment.

Hizbollah began firing rockets at Israel in support of Hamas the day after the Palestinian militant group’s October 7 attack triggered the war in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to end Hizbollah’s attacks and return some 60,000 displaced Israelis to northern Israel. 

Israel’s fight against Hizbollah, which intensified in September and escalated into an invasion of southern Lebanon, has forced more than 1mn people to flee and killed nearly 3,500 in the country, according to local authorities.

Israel’s government said 120 civilians and soldiers have been killed by Hizbollah rockets or during the invasion of Lebanon.