Israeli army claims it killed Hezbollah leader in Lebanon

Israel has claimed that its army killed Mohammad Mahdi Ali Shaheen, a Hezbollah leader, in a Thursday airstrike in the eastern Lebanese region of Hermel.

“Shaheen was a significant terrorist in Hezbollah’s Geographical Unit, which is responsible for the Beqaa area and has recently been involved in transporting weapons from Syria to Lebanon,” said the Israeli Defence Forces statement on Friday.

As part of his role, Shaheen was responsible for making purchase deals for the Hezbollah terrorist organisation and mediating the arrival of the shipments and their distribution to the various Hezbollah units, in order to continue Hezbollah’s establishment and reinforcement.”

The military added: “Shaheen’s actions posed a threat to the State of Israel and constituted a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”

There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah or the Lebanese government on the Israeli army’s statement.

However, the official Lebanese News Agency confirmed on Thursday that "an Israeli airstrike on Hermel resulted in the killing of two individuals," without giving more details.