The Israeli army confirmed Monday that it had “eliminated” during the night the leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Lebanon, where it is carrying out raids against Lebanese Hezbollah.
During the night, the army “struck and eliminated terrorist Fatah Charif, head of the Lebanese branch of the Hamas terrorist organization,” the army said in a statement, adding that he was “responsible for coordinating terrorist activities of Hamas in Lebanon with Hezbollah agents.”
“He was also responsible for efforts by Hamas in Lebanon to recruit agents and acquire weapons,” she continued, stressing that the army and the Shin Bet (internal security) would continue “to act against anyone represents a threat to the civilians of the State of Israel.”
Hamas said in a statement earlier in the day that its leader in Lebanon, Fatah Sharif Abou al-Amine, also a member of the movement’s leadership abroad, was killed in a strike on his house in the Hamas camp. Palestinian refugees from al-Bass, in southern Lebanon.
According to the official Lebanese agency ANI, the airstrike on al-Bass, near the city of Tyre, is the first of its kind on this refugee camp.
Fatah Charif was also an employee of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), but had been placed on administrative leave in recent months, according to UNRWA.
“Fatah Al-Sharif was an UNRWA employee who was placed on unpaid administrative leave in March and was under investigation following allegations received by UNRWA regarding his political activities,” a statement said. indicated UNRWA in a press release to AFP.
“By day, he was the president of the UNRWA teachers’ union, and by night, he was the leader of Hamas in Lebanon,” an Israeli army spokesperson told AFP.