A Hamas commander who worked alongside Hezbollah and led the terrorist group’s activities in Lebanon has been taken out in an airstrike, Israeli officials say.
Fateh Sherif, the head of the Lebanon branch of Hamas, was killed overnight, according to a joint statement Monday from the Israel Defense Forces and Israel’s domestic security agency Shin Bet.
“Sherif was responsible for coordinating Hamas’ terror activities in Lebanon with Hezbollah operatives. He was also responsible for Hamas’ efforts in Lebanon to recruit operatives and acquire weapons,” officials said. “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.”
The officials added that Sherif was “an accredited UNRWA member, and was the head of the UNRWA Teachers Union in Lebanon.” Some members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency are accused of participating in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which began the war in Gaza.
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A Lebanese policeman looks at damaged apartments that were hit by Israeli airstrike early Monday, Sept. 30, in Beirut, Lebanon. (AP/Hussein Malla)
The strike targeted Sherif inside his house in the southern Lebanon city of Tyre, Reuters is reporting, citing Hamas.
It unfolded as another terrorist group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said three of its leaders were killed in an airstrike that hit the upper floor of an apartment building in Beirut, according to Reuters.
The Israeli officials said Monday that they will “continue to operate against anyone who poses a threat to the civilians of the State of Israel.”
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Women pass damaged vehicles where an Israeli airstrike hit a building in Beirut early Monday. (AP/Hussein Malla)
Over the weekend, Israel’s military said it killed Nabil Qaouk, the deputy head of Hezbollah’s Central Council – just days after an IDF strike killed Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
On Monday, the deputy leader of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, announced that the terrorist group is ready to fight back against any Israeli ground operation in Lebanon.
People listen to a speech by Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Kassem, broadcast on Hezbollah’s al-Manar television channel, at a barber shop in Beirut, Lebanon, on Monday, Sept. 30. (AP/Bilal Hussein)
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“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,” Reuters quoted him as saying.
Fox News’ Yael Rotem-Kuriel and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
