Israel's army confirmed a strike Sunday, November 17, had "eliminated" Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif in the Beirut area, who it described as the Iran-backed militant group's "chief propagandist."
The army "conducted a precise, intelligence-based strike in the area of Beirut and eliminated the terrorist Mohammed Afif," it said, adding Afif was "directly involved in Hezbollah's terrorist activity against the State of Israel."
It was the latest targeted killing of a senior Hezbollah official.
On Sunday night, another strike in central Beirut hit a computer shop, killing two people and wounding 22, Lebanon's Health Ministry said. There was no immediate comment from Israel's military.
The strikes happened as Lebanese officials considered a United States-led cease-fire proposal. "This confirms the crimes of the Israeli enemy, and that it wants to negotiate under fire and is expanding and targeting safe and safer areas," said a Lebanese member of parliament, Faisal Al Sayegh.
Israel also bombed several buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has long been headquartered, after warning people to evacuate.
Screams in central Beirut
There was no Israeli evacuation warning before the strike near a busy intersection that killed Afif. Four people were killed and 14 wounded including two children, the Health Ministry said.
“I was asleep and awoke from the sound of the strike, and people screaming, and cars and gunfire," said witness Suheil Halabi.
After the second strike in central Beirut, firefighters struggled to control the blaze in the busy residential neighborhood of Mar Elias. Bystanders said they heard a second explosion and a car nearby appeared to be hit. Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel the day after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack ignited the war in Gaza. Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes in Lebanon and the conflict steadily escalated.
Israeli forces invaded Lebanon on October 1. On Sunday, Israel’s military said mobile artillery batteries had crossed into Lebanon and began attacking Hezbollah targets, the first time artillery was launched within Lebanese territory.
More than 3,400 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry, and over 1.2 million driven from their homes. It is not known how many of the dead are Hezbollah fighters.
Hezbollah has fired dozens of projectiles into Israel daily. The attacks have killed at least 76 people, including 31 soldiers, and caused some 60,000 people to flee. Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said a teenager suffered blast injuries Sunday in Upper Galilee.
Lebanon's army , largely on the sidelines, said an Israeli strike on Sunday hit a military center in southeastern Al-Mari, killing two soldiers and wounding two others. There was no immediate Israeli comment.