BEIRUT — The leader of the Hamas movement in Lebanon, Fateh Sherif, was killed along with his wife and two sons in an Israeli raid on his home in the center of the Rashidieh camp in southern Lebanon at dawn on Monday, Lebanese military sources told Xinhua.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported earlier that an Israeli raid targeted a Palestinian refugee camp near the city of Tyre, noting that this marks the first time the camp has been targeted since the onset of the strikes against Lebanon.

In a statement, Hamas affirmed that Fateh Sherif joined “the leaders and martyrs that preceded him, after a lifetime and journey full of service to the people of Palestine, their legitimate struggle, and their just cause.”

Confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel have sharply escalated after the latter announced a shift in military focus from the Gaza Strip to the northern front.

This has intensified the ongoing clashes between Israel and Hezbollah, which began on Oct. 8, 2023, when Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on Israel in solidarity with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, triggering Israeli retaliatory fire and airstrikes in Lebanon.

XINHUA