BEIRUT: An Israeli strike on a vehicle in the south Lebanon city of Sidon on Friday killed a Hamas ‘commander’, the Palestinian group and the Israeli military said, an incident expected to further strain efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and increase tensions in the Middle East.

It is the first strike of its kind in Sidon since the Hamas raids in Israel on Oct 7 last year. Hamas said in a statement that Samer Al Hajj was killed “in a Zionist strike in the city of Sidon”. His bodyguard was critically wounded, according to sources said.

A Lebanese security source said “an Israeli strike targeted a Hamas security official from the Ain Al Helweh camp while he was inside his vehicle in the city of Sidon”.

Ain Al Helweh and other refugee camps were created for Palestinians who were driven out during the 1948 war that accompanied Israel’s creation.

The Israeli military said that its aircraft struck the Sidon area and “eliminated” Hajj, whom it identified as “a senior commander” for Hamas in Lebanon.

It said Hajj “was responsible for advancing terror attacks and projectile launches from Lebanon toward Israeli territory”.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said an “enemy drone” carried out the deadly strike, which it said also wounded “two civilians”.

Hamas channels on the Telegram messaging app circulated video of young men marching through what it said was the Ain Al Helweh camp “after a Hamas martyr rose in the bombardment of his vehicle by an Israeli drone”.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2024