Israel has claimed a Hezbollah commander has been killed in an airstrike in Lebanon.
According to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), the commander of the militant group’s coastal sector, Ismail Yusaf Baz, has been “eliminated” in a strike in the Ain Ebel area. It claims one of its aircraft made the hit.
The commander had served as a senior official in several positions in Hezbollah’s military wing. He had also planned rocket and anti-tank missile launches towards Israel from Lebanon’s coastal area, the IDF said.
The Israeli military and Hezbollah exchanged fire on Tuesday, with the Iran-backed group injuring three in a drone attack, according to the Times of Israel.
Earlier, Hezbollah said it attacked Israel’s Iron Dome air defence units in the area of Beit Hillel, claiming they made direct hits and had killed or wounded crew members.
Hezbollah has not yet commented on Israel’s claims.
It comes as Israel’s war cabinet prepares to meet for a third time in three days on Tuesday, as the country weighs up a response to Iran’s retaliation on Saturday.
Tehran launched more than 300 missiles, cruise missiles and drones after Israel struck the Iranian embassy in Syria on 1 April.
International pressure to avoid further escalation is growing, but Israel’s military chief of staff Herzi Halevi said the attack will be “met with a response”.
There were no deaths reported in the attack, but a severely injured seven-year-old girl remains in an extremely serious condition, a doctor in the hospital where she is being treated has said.
Amina Hassouna was injured by shrapnel from an intercepted ballistic missile and is being treated at the Soroka Medical Centre.
She is on artificial ventilation, paediatric intensive care director Dr Isaac Lazar told The Times Of Israel.
