Hezbollah spokesman Afif killed in attack in Beirut, Israel

The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah confirmed that its media chief Mohammed Afif was killed in an Israeli assault in central Beirut.

On Sunday, there was a strike on the Baath Social gathering headquarters within the densely populated Ras Naba neighborhood, Lebanon’s state-run state information company reported.

The nation’s well being ministry stated 4 folks died however didn’t identify the victims.

Afif, one of many group’s few remaining public figures, was final seen on Monday when he held a information convention within the southern suburbs of Beirut, the place the group is predicated.

The Israel Protection Forces (IDF) has not but commented on the stories.

The BBC has contacted the Israel Protection Forces.

Hezbollah confirmed the loss of life on Sunday night, hours after it was first reported.

Many of the headquarters of the Lebanese department of Syria’s Baath celebration was destroyed within the assault, and rescue and civil protection groups rushed to rescue some folks trapped beneath the rubble, the state information company reported.

A complete of 14 folks have been injured and 4 died, the well being ministry stated.

The Lebanese Baath Social gathering is an offshoot of Syria’s Baath Social gathering, led by President Bashar al-Assad and a long-time ally of Hezbollah.

Its Lebanese headquarters is situated at a busy central intersection connecting west and east Beirut with the town heart and Airport Highway by the southern suburbs.

BBC Center East correspondent Lina Sinjab stated the event raised issues that Israel was broadening its assaults past Hezbollah army officers. Hezbollah can also be a political celebration, with representatives in parliament and ministers within the authorities.

“This can be a actual wake-up name,” she instructed BBC Information. “There are not any indicators that the state of affairs will de-escalate or {that a} answer might be discovered. As an alternative, Israel’s focusing on of Hezbollah in Lebanon has escalated and expanded.”

Afterward Sunday, one other assault on Mar Elias Road in central Beirut killed two folks and injured 13 others, the Lebanese Well being Ministry stated.

The BBC has contacted the Israel Protection Forces concerning the second assault in central Beirut.

Earlier on Sunday, the Israel Protection Forces stated it carried out assaults on six Hezbollah army targets within the southern suburbs.

Over the previous week, Israeli forces have stepped up assaults on Beirut amid renewed U.S.-led ceasefire efforts.

In late September, Israel launched an assault on Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and different senior commanders and senior officers. Israel had already killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in an assault in Beirut. Hassan Nasrallah and different senior officers.

Practically a yr after Hezbollah stepped up rocket assaults in help of the Palestinians after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel stated it needed to return tens of hundreds of displaced residents to the north of the nation.

greater than Since then, 3,400 folks have been killed in Lebanon, together with at the very least 2,600 since Israel launched heavy air strikes and launched a floor invasion of the south in late September, in response to the Lebanese Well being Ministry.

One other 1.2 million folks have been displaced.