Israeli Army Claims To Kill Senior Leader In Lebanese Jamaa Islamiya Group

Israel's army on Friday claimed to have killed a senior leader in the Lebanese Jamaa Islamiya group through a drone strike on southern Lebanon.

The Israeli army identified the target of the strike as Mosab Khalaf, accusing him of carrying out attacks on Israel, in a statement cited by Israeli media including the Ynet website.

It added that he was coordinating with Hamas' armed wing in Lebanon to carry out attacks on Israel, mostly attacks on the Mount Dov area and others in northern Israel.

The group has yet to comment on the Israeli reports.

Earlier, the official Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) said two people were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting a car in the Western Beqaa District of eastern Lebanon.

Tension has flared along the border between Lebanon and Israel amid intermittent exchanges of weapons fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, in the deadliest clashes since the two sides fought a full-scale war in 2006.

The border tension comes amid an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar -