BEIRUT, LEBANON – Senior Hezbollah military commander Abbas al Dabs, also known as Hajj Abdullah, was reported to have been killed in an alleged Israeli drone strike, according to Sky News Arabia and other Arab media on Thursday afternoon.
The alleged attack also reportedly resulted in the death of another Hezbollah operative, and multiple other individuals were said to have been wounded. Al Dabs was believed to have been responsible for coordinating air defense issues with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria. Additionally, he was said to have been in charge of the units which fired on Kiryat Shmona earlier that same day.
In response to the alleged attack, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) fighter jets struck at Hezbollah terror infrastructure and a military compound in the area of Khiam in southern Lebanon, from which the missiles were fired toward Kiryat Shmona. The IDF also responded to Hezbollah’s attack by firing artillery. The incident resulted in three IDF soldiers being wounded, with at least one of them being seriously injured.
Following the reported assassination of the Hezbollah official, the IDF announced that the Air Force Chief, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, stated that Hezbollah continues to lose its forces. Bar also mentioned that the air force currently has dozens of aircraft in southern Lebanon airspace and could increase the number to hundreds if the need arose in the event of a larger conflict with the Lebanese terror group.
Meanwhile, the IDF continues to fight in western Khan Yunis as well as the northern and central parts of the Gaza Strip, making arrests and eliminating terrorists who participated in previous attacks. The fighting in Gaza has somewhat slowed, leading to the partial release of portions of the paratroopers brigade from combat duties. Despite this progress, Hamas managed to fire a small number of rockets on the Southern part of the country.