United Nations says its peacekeeping patrol attacked 40 times in south Lebanon; 30 more killed in fresh Israeli strike on Gaza

BEIRUT: An Israeli airstrike without warning on the office of Syria’s Baath party in Lebanon’s capital Beirut killed the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah’s Media Relations Officer, Mohammed Afif, a Lebanese security source said.

“The strike on Ras al-Nabaa killed Hezbollah media relations official Mohammed Afif,” the security source said.

Ali Hijazi, secretary-general of the Lebanese branch of the Baath party, confirmed the death of Hezbollah media official Afif, Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported.

Afif was part of the inner circle of longtime Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated in an Israeli strike in September.

For years, Afif had been responsible for Hezbollah’s media relations, providing information to local and foreign journalists.

Afif first came to prominence as information director for Hezbollah’s television channel Al-Manar when the group and Israel went to war in 2006.

After Hezbollah chief’s assassination, Afif had held several press conferences in Beirut’s southern suburbs, including one last month in which he announced Hezbollah had launched a drone targeting the residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

That press conference was cut short when the Israeli army warned it would strike a building nearby.

“Bombardments have not scared us, so how would threats?” Afif said defiantly as journalists hurriedly collected their microphones from the table.

Hezbollah officials killed in previous Israeli strikes include not only Nasrallah but also Hashem Safieddine, tipped as the former chief’s successor.

UN peacekeepers attacked

On Sunday, as Israeli strikes continued in different parts of Lebanon, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) said that a peacekeeping patrol was fired upon “about 40 times”, with the culprit “likely from non-state actor members”.

“A group of individuals”, at least one armed, sought to prevent the patrol from passing in south Lebanon on Saturday, but it continued and was later “fired upon about 40 times from behind, likely from non-state actor members”, Unifil said in a statement, adding that no peacekeeper was injured though “some patrol vehicles had bullet impacts”.

30 Palestinians killed in Gaza

On the other hand, Gaza’s civil defence agency said 30 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed on Sunday and dozens were missing after an Israeli air strike hit a building in the Palestinian territory’s north.

After the strike, 30 bodies were pulled from the rubble of the five-storey residential building in Beit Lahia, including women and children, civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said.

Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2024