Israel has carried out a series of strikes in southern
and eastern Lebanon, killing Hassan Atwi, a senior member of Hezbollah’s
aerial defence unit, despite a November ceasefire that aimed to end
more than a year of hostilities.
According to the Israeli military, Atwi was “a
key terrorist” involved in rebuilding and rearming Hezbollah’s air defence unit
and had maintained contacts with Iranian officials to procure equipment.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA)
confirmed Atwi’s death, reporting that his wife, Zainab Raslan, who was
driving at the time, was also killed in the Israeli drone strike on the Zebdine
road in Nabatiyeh district. Another person was wounded.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) also said it
hit military compounds used by Hezbollah for training in Lebanon’s
eastern Bekaa region, while the NNA reported two additional air
strikes in Hermel province.
The UN recently verified the deaths of 103
civilians in Lebanon since the truce and called for an end to the
escalating violence.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s government is under U.S. and
Israeli pressure to move forward with a plan to disarm Hezbollah,
with ministers expected to review the army’s first monthly report on the
effort.
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