Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Friday, August 9, 2024
From the Liveblog of
Friday, August 9, 2024
Hamas says commander killed in Lebanon; Israel confirms strike
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Hamas confirms in a statement that Samer al-Hajj, a commander for the terror group, was killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon.
A poster put out by Hamas showing slain commander Samer al-Hajj on August 9, 2024.
The IDF and Shin Bet security agency in a statement confirm carrying out the airstrike in the coastal Lebanese city of Sidon that killed al-Hajj.
According to the military and Shin Bet, al-Hajj was responsible for “advancing terror attacks and projectile launches from Lebanon toward Israeli territory.”
Al-Hajj was the commander of Hamas’s military forces in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon, and responsible for “recruiting and training terrorists to attack the State of Israel,” the Israeli statement says.
