Smoke rises from the site of an ‘Israeli’ airstrike that targeted an area in Beirut's southern neighborhood. (March 5, 2026)
Senior Hamas official killed by ‘Israeli’ strike: Lebanese state media
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Lebanese state media said an ‘Israeli’ strike killed a Hamas official on Thursday, the first reported targeted killing of a member of the Palestinian group since US-‘Israeli’ strikes on Iran triggered regional war.
Wassim Atallah al-Ali and his wife were killed when an "enemy drone targeted their home" in Beddawi, a Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli, in a pre-dawn strike, the National News Agency (NNA) reported, describing the man as a senior Hamas official.
The report noted that Ali's brother, also a Hamas official from Beddawi, was killed in an ‘Israeli’ air strike during the Gaza war.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on Monday, when Hezbollah attacked ‘Israel’ in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during US-‘Israeli’ strikes over the weekend.
‘Israel’ has since struck targets across the country and sent ground forces into border towns.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported several strikes early Thursday, including two in the Hezbollah stronghold of south Beirut.
‘Israel's’ military, which earlier told residents to leave the suburbs where the strikes were reported, claimed its forces hit "several command centers belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organisation" in the city.
