Israel kills Hamas commander in attack on refugee camp in Lebanon

Hamas commander Saeed Atallah Ali and his family were killed in an Israeli attack on a refugee camp in northern Lebanon on Saturday, the militant group said.

In a statement, Hamas reported that an attack early Saturday in the Beddawi refugee camp targeted Atallah Ali's home. The attack also claimed the lives of Ali's wife, Shaimaa Azzam, and their two daughters, described as children in the statement, The Associated Press reported.

The Beddawi camp is near the northern city of Tripoli. Atallah Ali was an important leader of the al-Qassam Brigades. Israel has not yet commented on the attack.

Since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out nearly a year ago on October 7, in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and 250 taken hostage, Israel has repeatedly targeted Hamas and Hezbollah officials in Lebanon.

In response, Israel declared war on the Gaza Strip militant group Hamas and, according to local health authorities, 41,000 Palestinians have been killed so far, with just over half of the dead being women and children.

On Tuesday, Israel stepped up its attacks against Hezbollah and began a ground attack on Lebanon. The Israeli military said nine of its soldiers were killed in the conflict in the south of the country. Meanwhile, Hamas has announced the deaths of at least 18 of its militants in Lebanon, while nearly 2,000 civilians have died.

Last week, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. According to an Israeli media report, the 64-year-old died in a bunker after an Israeli airstrike on his hideout in Lebanon.

Nasrallah had led Hezbollah for decades, which the United States classified as a terrorist organization. He was against the existence of the State of Israel and launched rocket attacks on the country after the October 7 attacks.

Several other Hezbollah members were also killed when their pagers exploded last week in an attack that the Lebanese militant group blamed on Israel.

The IDF previously said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that a political decision had been made to attack Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon “based on accurate intelligence information.”

It added that “Operation Northern Arrows” would continue “in accordance with the situation assessment and in parallel with the fighting in Gaza and other theaters.” The statement reiterated that one of its goals was to “repatriate the citizens of northern Israel to their homes.”

Since the ground attack in Lebanon, the United States has enabled around 250 Americans to flee the country.