Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, said an Israeli strike killed one of its commanders in a refugee camp in north Lebanon on Saturday, the first time the area has been targeted since the beginning of the Gaza conflict.
“Commander” Saeed Attallah Ali, his wife, and two daughters were slain in a “Zionist bombardment of his house in the Beddawi camp” near the northern city of Tripoli, the report added.
Israel has routinely targeted Hamas officials in Lebanon since the Gaza conflict began over a year ago.
Since then, Hamas has confirmed the deaths of at least 18 fighters in Lebanon.
According to the group, its head in Lebanon, Fatah Sharif Abu al-Amine, was killed by an air strike on Monday at his residence in the Al-Bass camp in south Lebanon.
In August, an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the south Lebanon city of Sidon killed Hamas commander Samer al-Hajji.
In January, Israel carried out an attack in Hezbollah’s south Beirut stronghold, killing Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Aruri and six other terrorists, according to a US defense official.
Lebanon’s dozen Palestinian refugee camps were established to accommodate Palestinians who were forced out or fled during the 1948 conflict that preceded Israel’s establishment.
By longtime precedent, the Lebanese army stays out of the camps, leaving security to the Palestinian factions.