Hamas says commander killed in Israeli strike on Lebanon

Hamas said one of its commanders was killed in an Israeli strike on the south Lebanon city of Sidon on Wednesday, the latest attack despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the dawn strike killed one person.

Hamas named him as Khaled Ahmed al-Ahmed and said he was on his way to pray.

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“As we mourn our heroic martyr, we pledge to God Almighty, and then to our people and our nation, to continue on the path of resistance,” the Palestinian militant group said in a statement.

The Israeli military confirmed that it killed Ahmed, adding that he was “the head of operations in Hamas’s Western Brigade in Lebanon.”

It alleged he had been engaged in weapons smuggling and advancing “numerous” attacks against Israel.

Israel has continued to launch regular strikes in Lebanon despite the November 27 truce which sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah including two months of full-blown war.

Under the deal, Hezbollah was to pull back its fighters north of Lebanon’s Litani River, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure to its south.

Israel was to withdraw all its forces from Lebanon, but it has kept troops in five positions that it deems “strategic.”

A Lebanese security source told AFP that Hezbollah had withdrawn fighters from south of the Litani and dismantled most of its military infrastructure in the area.

Lebanon says it has respected its commitments and has called on the international community to pressure Israel to end its attacks and withdraw from the five border positions.

Last week, Lebanon’s top security body the Higher Defense Council warned Hamas against using the country for attacks on Israel.

The group has since handed over several Palestinians accused of firing rockets from Lebanon into Israel in March.

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