(Beirut) The Islamist group Jamaa Islamiya, close to the Palestinian Hamas, announced the death of one of its leaders on Thursday in an Israeli strike which targeted his vehicle in eastern Lebanon.
Since the start of the war on October 7 between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Lebanese Hezbollah and allied groups, which support the Palestinian Islamist movement, have been exchanging fire daily on the border between Lebanon and Israel.
In a statement, Jamaa Islamiya announced the death of its “commander”, Mohamad Hamed Jabbara, in a “heinous Zionist (Israeli) raid”.
The official ANI news agency said that “Jamaa Islamiya leader Mohamad Hamed Jabbara” was killed in an “enemy drone” strike targeting his van at 6:30 a.m. (11:30 p.m. Eastern Time) in the Bekaa, eastern Lebanon.
Formed in 1960, Jamaa Islamiya is closely linked to Hamas, with which it claims to carry out attacks against Israel from southern Lebanon.
The violence that broke out on the Israeli-Lebanese border on the sidelines of the war in Gaza has left 512 dead in Lebanon, the majority of them fighters, including nine from Jamaa Islamiya, but includes at least 104 civilians, according to an AFP count.
On the Israeli side, 17 soldiers and 13 civilians were killed, according to the authorities.