Israel strike on Lebanon kills Hizbollah commander: source, army

BEIRUT, Lebanon — An Israeli strike Tuesday on eastern Lebanon killed a Hizbollah commander, a source close to the group and the Israeli military said, the latest in near-daily exchanges throughout the Gaza war.

The Iran-backed Lebanese group has traded fire with Israeli forces in support of ally Hamas since the Palestinian fighters group's October 7 attack triggered war in the Gaza Strip, with repeated escalations during more than 11 months of the cross-border violence.

A source close to Hizbollah told AFP that Mohammad Qassem al-Shaer, "a field commander" in the group's elite Radwan Force, "was targeted in an Israeli strike on a motorcycle in the Bekaa" Valley in Lebanon's east, far from the Israeli border.

Hizbollah earlier announced Shaer had been killed by Israeli fire, but did not refer to him as a commander.

The Israeli military said its air force had "eliminated the terrorist Mohammad Qassem al-Shaer in the area of Qaraoun", in the Bekaa Valley.

It referred to Shaer as "a Hizbollah Radwan Force commander".

Elsewhere in Lebanon, the health ministry said an "Israeli enemy" strike on a building in the southern city of Nabatiyeh "caused light injuries to nine people".