Hamas announces death of senior commander in Israeli strike in Lebanon

Hamas announced late Monday night the death of one of its "field commanders" in Lebanon, amid the intense strikes that killed nearly 500 people in the South and the Bekaa within 24 hours.

"The field commander of the al-Qassam Brigades," the military wing of the group, Hussein Mahmoud Nader, was killed "in an assassination operation" carried out by the Israeli air force during its "brutal" attack on Lebanon, Hamas said in a statement released around midnight. He was originally from Jdeidet Marjayoun, and according to information from our correspondent, he was killed in a strike on Marjayoun.

According to the latest provisional toll released overnight by the Ministry of Health, Monday's Israeli strikes resulted in 492 deaths, including 35 children and 58 women, and 1,645 wounded.

Since Oct. 8, 2023, Hamas has launched strikes from Lebanon against positions in northern Israel. The group has also lost several of its fighters, including in targeted strikes, as well as its second-in-command, Saleh al-Arouri, in a bombing in Beirut's southern suburbs in January.