Hamas says its top leader in Lebanon has been killed in an Israeli attack

• Hamas says its top leader in Lebanon, Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin, has been killed in an Israeli airstrike.
• He was said to have been killed along with his wife and children in their home in Al-Bas camp.
• Israel has targeted Hezbollah in its attacks on Lebanon.

Hamas said its leader in Lebanon, Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin, and several of his family members were killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon.

The militant group made the statement on its Telegram channel on Monday, according to NBC News.

It said el-Amin was killed along with his wife and children “in their home in the (Al-Bas) camp.”

In an X post on Monday, the Israel Defense Forces said he was killed in a precision strike by the Israeli Air Force.

As head of Hamas' branch in Lebanon, el-Amin reportedly oversaw the organization's militant recruitment and arms procurement efforts there.

His reported death came after Israel said it had killed the longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike in Lebanon on Saturday.

They also claimed to have killed Nabil Qaouk, the commander of Hezbollah's Preventive Security Unit and a member of the group's Executive Council, in a separate airstrike.

Israel has continued to attack targets in southern Lebanon and even Beirut.

It could be the latest developments Because of its ties to the militant groups, this could lead to Iran becoming more directly involved in the conflict.

Iran is under pressure to respond to such attacks, but Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also wants to ease tensions with the United States and lift economic sanctions against his country. That seems increasingly unlikely.

When Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran in July, just hours after attending Pezeshkian's inauguration while pointing the finger at Israel, Iran promised retaliation but has yet to do so.

Since Nasrallah's killing on Saturday, several Iranian officials as well as Hezbollah have vowed retaliation.

During a press conference on Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said Iran would not leave any of Israel's “criminal actions” unanswered, according to Reuters.

Tasnim news agency quoted Elias Hazrati, head of the Iranian government's information council, as saying: “We will show the people of the world Israel's defeat.”

Meanwhile, Naim Qassem, Hezbollah's deputy chief, said the Lebanese armed group was ready to face an Israeli ground offensive despite the death of its leader and other top commanders, according to al-Jazeera.

In an X post on Monday, Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that forces stationed on Israel's northern border were ready and willing to attack Hezbollah with force.

He added that Israel would use all means at its disposal to allow residents to return to their homes in northern Israel.