MONITORING (SW) – An Israeli drone raid that hit a car 35km (22 miles) from the Lebanese capital, Beirut, has killed at least two people, but a Hamas official who was the target survived the attack, security sources told Al Jazeera.
Two missiles fired by an Israeli drone hit the Hamas official’s vehicle in the coastal town of Jadra on Saturday and two bystanders were killed in the attack, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr reported from Beirut.
The two victims were civilians, a Lebanese Civil Defence official told the AFP news agency.
The Hamas official targeted in the attack was close to Saleh al-Arouri, Hamas’s deputy chief killed last month in a suspected Israeli raid on a suburb of Beirut, a security source said.
The Times of Israel daily reported that the person targeted was Basel Salah, describing him as a recruiter for Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank.
The strike was the second attack in Lebanon this week beyond the border region with Israel.
“This was deep inside Lebanon, approximately 60km [37 miles] from the border with Israel, outside the battleground where the Israeli army and the Lebanese group Hezbollah have been exchanging fire, triggered by the war on Gaza,” Khodr said.
Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging near-daily fire since October 7 when Hamas launched an attack on Israeli territory in which some 1,100 people were killed. Israel’s military then launched a land, air and ground assault on Gaza that has left more than 28,000 people dead.
However, usual exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel’s military have been mostly limited to the border region.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas in Lebanon or from the Israeli military, according to Al Jazeera.
However, usual exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel’s military have been mostly limited to the border region.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas in Lebanon or from the Israeli military.
The attack comes as Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian is in Lebanon to discuss the impact of Israel’s war on Gaza and its impact on regional security.
Iran has never sought war in the region, said Abdollahian.
“Iran and Lebanon confirm that war is not the solution, and that we absolutely never sought to expand it,” Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-abdollahian said at a news conference alongside Abdallah Bou Habib, Lebanon’s foreign minister, in Beirut on Saturday.
However, he threatened that any widespread attack by Israel on Lebanon would be Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “last day”
His visit to Beirut came as the United States and Israel have continued to blame Iran and its aligned armed groups in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen for escalating tensions in the region via attacks on US and Israeli targets.
“After months of aggression and genocide by the Zionist regime [Israel] in Gaza and the West Bank, Tel Aviv has not achieved any of its stated goals,” Amir-abdollahian told reporters.
“The continuation of America’s support for the Zionist regime and for Netanyahu will have no results but a final defeat,” he said.
During his visit, the Iranian diplomat met Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, speaker of Lebanon’s Parliament, Ziad Nakhale, the secretary-general of the Islamic Jihad Movement, and some Hamas officials. He also met Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
After his meetings in Lebanon, Amir-abdollahian is scheduled to visit the Syrian capital Damascus, where Iran also allegedly wields influence over other groups. He is then due to head to Qatar, which has been the main mediator between Israel and Hamas.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
