‘Significant’ Hamas leader killed in Israeli Defence Forces strike in Lebanon

Hadi Mustafa, a member of Hamas’ armed wing in Lebanon, was behind attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets around the world, the Israeli Defence Forces claim.

A Lebanese army soldier secures the site of the Israeli strike in Lebanon's southern area of Tyre. Picture: AFP.

The Israeli army says it killed a “significant” Hamas member in an airstrike in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, part of an increased offensive in the country over the past few days.

Hadi Ali Mustafa, who the army said was responsible for ­attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets around the world, was an associate of Saleh al-Arouri, who was killed in a targeted Israeli ­attack in Beirut in January.

The strike on the car in Tyre that killed Mustafa also left a Syrian passer-by dead, according to local reports.

Israel has expanded the scope of its military activity against the Shia militia group Hezbollah in Lebanon and is operating far from the Israeli border, attacking significant military targets.

New IDF figures reported that the military had struck more than 4000 targets in the past five months in Lebanon and Syria and killed more than 300 operatives, including six senior commanders with the rank of brigade commander and up, and wounded a further 750. Dozens of civilians have also been killed.

In response to the escalation, Hezbollah sent its biggest volley of rockets so far across the border on Tuesday.

A US intelligence report has concluded that Israel faces years of resistance from Hamas and doubts the survival of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, in a bleak assessment of the war in Gaza and worsening relations between the two nations.

The findings, in an annual ­report, suggests Israel will have trouble uprooting Hamas’s extensive infrastructure in Gaza, which includes hundreds of kilometres of tunnels. Mr Netanyahu has vowed to push the five-month-long military operation into Rafah, Hamas’s remaining bastion in the Gaza Strip, despite US objections.

“Israel probably will face lingering armed resistance from Hamas for years to come, and the military will struggle to neutralise Hamas’s underground infrastructure,” the report said. “Netanyahu’s viability as leader as well as his governing coalition of far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties that pursued hardline policies on Palestinian and security issues may be in jeopardy … and we expect large protests demanding his resignation and new elections.”

Israel says it has killed thousands of Hamas militants while taking over most of Gaza, much of which has been destroyed or damaged. According to US media, the Biden administration – Israel’s main source of military aid – is debating whether to curb supplies if Israel presses ahead with the operation in Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have sought refuge.

While the US has firmly supported Israel in its war, which was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 ­attack on Israel in which 1200 people died, it is increasingly concerned by the mounting death toll in Gaza, which surpassed 30,000 people this month, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory.

Negotiations to reach a ceasefire before the start of the holy month of Ramadan, which began this week, have foundered amid disagreements between Israel, which accepted a six-week truce that would free its hostages kidnapped on October 7, and the Palestinian militant group, which is demanding a permanent ceasefire.

Qatar, which is mediating the talks and hosts Hamas’s political leadership, played down reports on Tuesday of another breakthrough in the talks, saying substantial disagreements remained.

“The situation is very complicated on the ground,” a Qatari foreign ministry spokesman said.

“We are not near a deal meaning that we are not seeing both sides converging on language that can resolve the current specific disagreements … but we remain hopeful.”

While the US has demanded that Hamas accept the deal, it has also pressed Israel to allow more aid into Gaza and has sent its navy to build a floating pier to receive supplies amid fears of famine. The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had allowed six World Food Program trucks carrying food into northern Gaza, as part of an effort that could be followed by more aid.

The US has also expressed concern about unrest in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, where Palestinian authorities said a teenager was killed by Israeli police on Tuesday. Israeli police said an officer fired a single shot during a riot.

THE TIMES