Israeli attack kills another senior Hezbollah commander as diplomats struggle for calm in Lebanon

BEIRUT (AP) — An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed a senior Hezbollah commander on Wednesday as tensions between the two sides continue to escalate, a Hezbollah official told The Associated Press.

The attack near the southern coastal city of Tyre came amid increased global diplomatic efforts in recent weeks to prevent escalating clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli military from escalating into a full-scale war that could potentially lead to a direct confrontation between Israel and Iran.

A Hezbollah statement identified the slain commander as Mohammad Naameh Nasser, who was known by the name “Abu Naameh,” his nom de guerre. A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he was the head of the group’s Aziz Unit, one of three regional divisions in southern Lebanon.

Naameh is the highest-ranking official of the Iran-backed group to be killed since Taleb Sami Abdullah, who was killed in an airstrike on June 11. Hassan Nasrallah In a speech in Abdullah’s honor, he said he had played a central role as leader of the Nasr unit on the front lines since fighting began on October 8.

In a video shared by local media, residents rushed to a charred vehicle that was emitting a large cloud of smoke. Civil protection officials said their first responders had taken an unnamed injured person to a hospital.

The Israeli military initially made no comment on the attack.

A day after a surprise Hamas attack on southern Israel in October, Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, sparking limited clashes along the tense border. The attacks have gradually escalated since then, with Hezbollah using new weapons in its attacks and Israel advancing deeper into Lebanon.

The group claims it will stop its attacks once there is a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Until then, it says it will continue its attacks to increase pressure on Israel and the international community. Israeli officials have threatened to launch a major military operation if Hezbollah does not stop its attacks.

Hezbollah’s deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, told The Associated Press in an interview on Monday that Israel could not expect the group’s attacks to be limited if it launched a military operation in Lebanon, even if it wanted to keep the conflict below the threshold of open war. Allies, including thousands of Iran-backed militiamen in Iraq, have offered to join Hezbollah on the front lines.

Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon have killed over 450 people since October, most of them Hezbollah fighters, but also over 80 civilians. On the Israeli side, 16 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed in Gaza since the war began. Tens of thousands of people on both sides of the tense border have been displaced in the months-long war.

US President Joe Biden’s senior adviser Amos Hochstein, who commutes between Lebanon and Israel, is scheduled to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron’s Lebanon envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian in Paris on Wednesday as part of his ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.

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Associated Press writer Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this article.