Hezbollah spokesperson Mohammad Afif was fatally targeted in an Israeli strike in central Beirut, Lebanon, according to a Lebanese security source.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source disclosed that the media liaison officer of the Lebanon-based militant organization Hezbollah was killed in a precision strike in the Ras al-Nabaa district. The targeted edifice housed the Lebanese branch office of the Syrian Bath Party.
The National News Agency (NNA) of Lebanon reported that Ali Hijazi, Secretary-General of the Bath Party’s Lebanon chapter, corroborated the demise of the Hezbollah media official. The Israeli Defense Forces, however, declined to comment on the operation.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Health confirmed one fatality and three casualties in the assault, with several individuals remaining unaccounted for. Rescue operations are ongoing to extricate potential survivors from the debris.
Afif was a long-standing member of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s inner sanctum. He had been at the helm of Hezbollah’s media relations division for numerous years, frequently serving as an intermediary between the organization and both domestic and international journalists, often operating through anonymous channels.
The NNA reported that “enemy aircraft” perpetrated “catastrophic destruction” in the Ras al-Nabaa area, resulting in multiple individuals being trapped beneath the rubble. The location is in proximity to the French Embassy and a university.
According to eyewitness accounts, residents of an adjacent building had received evacuation warnings prior to the strike, though these admonitions were initially disregarded.
Afif’s association with Hezbollah began in his youth. He first gained prominence as the information director of Hezbollah’s television channel Al-Manar during the 2006 conflagration between Hezbollah and Israel.
Following the purported elimination of Nasrallah in an Israeli strike last September, several press conferences were convened. In a recent media briefing last month, Afif had proclaimed that Hezbollah had executed a drone strike on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence. The briefing was abbreviated after the Israeli military issued an imminent strike warning on a nearby building.
As journalists hastily retrieved their microphones from the table, Afif’s final defiant words were, “Your bombardments cannot intimidate us, so what’s the threat?”
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