Folks and rescuers collect on the web site of an Israeli assault on a constructing that safety sources say killed Hezbollah media relations chief Mohammad Afif in Ras Al-Nabaa in Beirut, Lebanon, on 17 November 2024. | Picture credit score: Reuters
A Lebanese safety supply stated Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif was killed in an Israeli strike on Sunday (Nov 17, 2024) in central Beirut that hit the Lebanese department of the Syrian Baath get together.
“The assault on Ras al-Nabaa killed Hezbollah’s media relations official Mohammed Afif,” the safety supply stated, requesting anonymity as they weren’t approved to temporary the media.
Ali Hijazi, secretary common of the Lebanese department of the Baath get together, “confirmed the loss of life of Hezbollah media official” Afif, the official Nationwide Information Company reported.
The Israeli army declined to remark, however Afif is the newest in an extended checklist of Hezbollah officers killed since Israel on September 23 started closely shelling Hezbollah strongholds after practically a 12 months of cross-border exchanges with the backed group. by Iran on the Gaza battle.
Lebanon’s Well being Ministry stated the assault killed one particular person and injured three others, including that the loss of life toll was provisional and that work was underway to clear particles from the positioning of the assault.
Afif was a part of the inside circle of former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike in September.
For years, Afif had been liable for Hezbollah’s media relations, offering info to native and overseas journalists, usually below the duvet of anonymity.
The ANN said that the assault by “enemy plane” precipitated “main destruction”, and reported an unspecified variety of folks “trapped below rubble” in Ras al-Nabaa, an space close to the French embassy and a college.
He stated that “one of many residents of a neighboring constructing had acquired a warning name urging evacuation, but it surely was not taken severely.”
Afif joined Hezbollah at a younger age and rose to prominence as info director of Hezbollah’s tv channel, Al-Manar, when the group and Israel went to battle in 2006.
After Nasrallah’s assassination, Afif had held a number of press conferences within the southern suburbs of Beirut, together with one final month through which he introduced that Hezbollah had launched a drone on the residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
That press convention was interrupted when the Israeli military warned that it could assault a close-by constructing.
“The bombings haven’t scared us, how would threats scare us?” Afif stated defiantly because the journalists hurriedly picked up their microphones from the desk.
Hezbollah officers killed in earlier Israeli assaults embody not solely Nasrallah but in addition Hashem Safieddine, thought of the previous chief’s successor.
Printed – Nov 17, 2024 07:47 pm IST
