A Hamas commander who worked alongside Hezbollah and led terrorist activities in Lebanon was killed in an airstrike, according to official reports from the Israel Defense Forces and the country's domestic security agency Shin Bet. The identified leader was Fatal Sherif, the head of the Lebanon branch of Hamas.
Israel claims that Sherif coordinated Hamas’ terrorist activities in Lebanon, including recruiting operatives and acquiring weapons. “He led the Hamas terrorist organization’s force build-up efforts in Lebanon and operated to advance Hamas’ interests in Lebanon, both politically and militarily,” Israeli officials said.
The officials added that Sherif was an accredited UNRWA member, and led the UNRWA Teachers Union in Lebanon. Some members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency were accused of joining Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, which started the Israel-Gaza war.
According to a Reuters report, The strike targeted Sherif inside his house in Tyre, a southern Lebanon city. Following the attacks, families were seen fleeing potential subsequent Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and other areas that played host to Israeli attacks on Martyr's Square in Beirut.
Reports claim that the displaced households fear that what befell Gaza will play out in Lebanon's capital city. But Fatal Sherif wasn't the only high-profile target that Israel eliminated in its latest attack on Lebanon.
Three Palestinian Leaders Also Killed in Beirut
Another terrorist group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, announced the killing of three of its leaders in an Israeli airstrike that hit the upper floor of an apartment building in Beirut. Over the weekend, Israeli forces said it killed Nabil Qaouk, the deputy head of Hezbollah's Central Council – only days after taking out Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an IDF strike.
Meanwhile, the deputy leader of Hezbollah Naim Qassem, announced that the terrorist group is supposed to repel any operation of Israeli ground troops in Lebanon. "We will face any possibility and we are ready if the Israelis decide to enter by land and the resistance forces are ready for a ground engagement," per a Reuters report.
According to a US official familiar with the event, Israel is planning a limited ground operation into Lebanon that could begin any time from now. Israel reportedly informed President Biden’s administration that it could enter Lebanon by land as early as Monday to push Hezbollah further away from their Israeli border.
The ground operation will reportedly target Hezbollah infrastructure, including stockpiles and weapons, according to Israeli officials. Additionally, the offensive operation will be limited in and last for days rather than weeks over a limited region.
Closing Notes
The Israeli military said it killed Fatal Sherif, who it identified as a former Hamas leader in Palestine after an airstrike targeted his house in Tyre, southern Lebanon. Families flee for safety as they dread that Beirut could replicate Gaza's fate while US sources claim Israel could advance a "limited" ground operation into Lebanon anytime soon.