Israeli Strike Kills Hezbollah Media Chief in Beirut, Say Lebanese Sources
By The Media Line Staff
An Israeli airstrike on Sunday targeted a building in Beirut’s densely populated Ras al-Nabaa neighborhood, killing Hezbollah’s media relations chief, Mohammad Afif, according to two Lebanese security sources.
While there has been no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah, Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed also reported Afif’s death. The strike hit a building housing the offices of Lebanon’s Ba’ath Party, according to the sources. The party’s leader, Ali Hijazi, told the broadcaster that Afif was present in the building at the time of the attack.
Footage from the scene showed the building’s upper floors collapsed onto its first story, with emergency workers searching the rubble. The Lebanese health ministry reported that one person was killed and three others injured in the strike.
The Israeli military declined to comment when approached by Reuters and did not issue any prior evacuation warnings for the area.
Afif had been a key figure in Hezbollah’s communications efforts, previously managing its Al-Manar television station and serving as a media advisor to former Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah. Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on September 27.
The Ras al-Nabaa neighborhood, where the strike occurred, has become a refuge for many displaced residents from Beirut’s southern suburbs amid heavy Israeli bombardments.
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