IDF: Strike in Lebanon’s Sidon kills top Hamas commander planning terror attacks
Chief of Hamas operations in Lebanon, Mohammed Shaheen, was being funded by Iran to advance attacks on Israelis, military says
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
An Israeli drone strike on a car in the coastal Lebanese city of Sidon on Monday morning killed a senior commander in the Hamas terror group, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The target of the strike, Mohammed Shaheen, was the chief of Hamas’s operations in Lebanon, according to the Israeli military and Shin Bet security agency.
The IDF said that Shaheen was involved in plotting and advancing terror attacks from Lebanon against Israeli civilians, with Iranian funding and guidance.
“Shaheen was a significant source of knowledge within the organization and was involved throughout the war with advancing various terror attacks, including rocket fire on the Israeli home front,” the IDF added.
Hamas in a statement later also confirmed Shaheen was killed in the strike. The terror group called him a commander.
Hamas, the Palestinian terror group that rules Gaza, has a significant presence in Lebanon and is allied with the Lebanese Hezbollah terror group. Both are backed by Iran.
The strike came a day before Israel is scheduled to withdraw from most areas of Lebanon under the November 27 ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, though it will remain in five strategic positions.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday that he was worried Israel might not fully withdraw by Tuesday, and that “the sponsors of the deal should bear their responsibility to assist us.”
Israel and Hezbollah have repeatedly accused each other of violating the agreement. The agreement gives Israel the right to act against imminent threats by the Iran-backed terror group.
On Sunday, Israel said it carried out strikes targeting Hezbollah military sites deep in Lebanon, as official Lebanese media reported three raids in the country’s east.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s official National News Agency said Israeli gunfire killed a woman in the border town of Hula on Sunday as people tried to go home to villages where the IDF is still stationed.
On Saturday, Israel said it targeted a senior member of Hezbollah’s aerial unit, as Lebanese official media reported two dead in an Israeli strike in the south.
Israel invaded Lebanon in September in a bid to stem the terror group’s persistent rocket fire, which had displaced some 60,000 Israeli civilians in the north of the country. Hezbollah’s near-daily attacks began, unprovoked, on October 8, 2023 — a day after fellow Iran-backed terror group Hamas stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
Agencies contributed to this report.
