Israeli strike on Beirut kills Hezbollah media chief Mohammed Afif
Hezbollah’s chief spokesperson has been killed by an Israeli airstrike on Beirut, as Israel intensifies its air offensive in Lebanon despite ongoing indirect negotiations for a ceasefire.
Mohammed Afif, who has been the public face of Hezbollah for months, was killed in a strike on offices of the Ba’ath party in Ras al-Nabaa, central Beirut. The attack in the busy residential area came without warning, and appeared to damage to neighbouring buildings.
The son of a prominent Shia cleric, Afif managed the Hezbollah-run TV network Al Manar before taking over as head of the militant Islamist group’s media relations. Since the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the longtime leader of Hezbollah, on 28 September, Afif became one of the group’s most prominent officials, holding several press conferences in Beirut.
Analysts said Afif was the first official with such a role to be killed by Israel, as all previous targets had military or senior leadership posts. Until Sunday, there had been no Israeli airstrikes on central Beirut since mid-October.
Witnesses saw four bodies at the scene of the strike, which came a day before Lebanon was expected to deliver its response to a US-delivered ceasefire proposal. There was no official word on the exact death toll.
That concludes the Middle East crisis liveblog for today. Thanks for following along.
Updated
Israeli attacks killed 29 people and wounded 122 on Saturday, bringing the tolls since October last year to 3,481 fatalities and 14,786 injuries, the Lebanese health ministry reported on Sunday.
