BEIRUT: An Israeli drone strike on a car crossing through a Syrian checkpoint near the border with Lebanon on Wednesday killed three Palestinian fighters and one member of Hezbollah, two security sources said.

The Israeli military said the strike killed Faris Qasim, who it said was a significant figure in the operations division of the Islamic Jihad, responsible for operational plans in Syria and Lebanon.

It said he had a central role in recruiting Palestinians to Hezbollah to attack Israel from Lebanon. Other Islamic Jihad fighters who were on their way from Syria to Lebanon were also killed in the strike, it said, without providing details.

The security sources said the car was not transporting weapons. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah or from the Islamic Jihad movement, to which one of the sources said the three Palestinian fighters belonged.

Local Syrian official Abdo al Taqi told a Syrian radio station that a car was targeted on the road between the Syrian capital Damascus and Lebanon’s capital Beirut, and four people were killed.

With tensions high, UN extends Lebanon peacekeeping force’s mandate

Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and other armed factions have launched rockets and drones at Israel from southern Lebanon. Israel has targeted weapons shipments and other military infrastructure in Syria for years and has stepped up its strikes there since October, when the Gaza conflict began.

Wednesday’s drone strike came hours after an Israeli airstrike hit a pickup truck in northeast Lebanon near the Syrian border. A security source said that the vehicle was carrying military equipment, likely a damaged rocket launcher on the way to be repaired.

UN mandate

The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday extended the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon for a year, calling for a “de-escalation” of a recent surge in violence between Israel and Hezbollah.

A unanimously adopted resolution said the council “decides to extend the present mandate of Unifil until 31st Aug 2025,” referring to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

With more than 10,000 personnel, the peacekeeping force has been stationed in Lebanon since 1978, with its role strengthened after a 33-day conflict between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006.

Tensions have risen again since the October start of Israel’s conflict in Gaza, with Hezbollah supporting Hamas with operations in southern Lebanon, including daily exchanges of fire with Israeli troops.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2024