Israeli attack kills Islamic Group commander in Lebanon’s Bekaa

A commander of the Islamic Group in Lebanon was killed in an Israeli drone strike in the east of the country early Thursday morning.

Mohammad Jabbara was killed when his vehicle was hit on a road in the village of Ghazze in the western Bekaa district. National News Agency reported.

He was a senior commander in the Fajr Forces, the militant wing of the Islamic Group affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, which had joined the fight against Israel in southern Lebanon.

There was no immediate comment from Israel on the attack.

Several members of Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya (the Islamic Group) have been killed by Israel since October last year, when cross-border fighting broke out between Hezbollah and the Israeli military.

While most of those killed in Israeli attacks were members of the powerful Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah group, some members of the Sunni Islamic group, the Shiite Amal Movement militia and other Lebanese and Palestinian groups were also killed.

Israel and Hezbollah have been trading blows since the Gaza war began, when Hezbollah announced a “support front” with the Palestinians and its ally Hamas. It is the most serious violence between Israel and the Lebanese group since the war in the summer of 2006.

While Israel has mainly attacked targets in southern Lebanon, it has also occasionally penetrated deeper into Lebanese territory, such as the Bekaa Valley or other areas, claiming to kill insurgent fighters in the process.

On Wednesday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said his group would attack new targets in Israel if civilians in Lebanon were targeted. Just hours earlier, an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon killed five Syrians, including three children.

Among the more than 400 people killed in Lebanon since October are about 100 civilians, including three journalists and several paramedics.

Israel believes that about 17 of its soldiers and about a dozen civilians have died, but Hezbollah believes the number is higher.

Western-led diplomatic efforts are underway to reach an agreement between Israel and Lebanon, but fears of a full-scale war are growing.

Both Israel and Hezbollah have warned each other of the devastating consequences of a full-scale war.