Israel’s strike on Beirut was its second attack on the Lebanese capital since a ceasefire with Hezbollah in November. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said all violations of sovereignty must be prevented.
The Israeli military confirmed Tuesday that it had killed a Hezbollah and Iran Quds Forces operative in an overnight strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
“Hassan Ali Mahmoud Bdeir, a terrorist in Hezbollah’s Unit 3900 and the Iranian Quds Force, was eliminated in the Dahieh area,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on social media.
“Bdeir recently operated in cooperation with the Hamas terrorist organization, assisting them in planning and advancing a significant and imminent terror attack against Israeli civilians.”
The IDF said it acted on the advice of Israeli intelligence and struck the apartment building “given the immediacy of the threat.”
A source close to Hezbollah, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to brief the media, also confirmed the death to the AFP news agency, saying the strike killed Hassan Bdeir, Hezbollah’s “deputy head for the Palestinian file” who was “at home with his family.”
