BEIRUT — An Israeli drone strike targeting a car near Saida Friday morning killed Mohammad Jaafar Maneh Abdallah, a senior Hezbollah official, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent on the ground, Muntasser Abdallah. The attack took place on the Ghazieh highway, leading south from Saida, the next major coastal city south of Beirut.

Originally from the village of Khiam, in Marjayoun district, the victim held a senior position in the party, according to the Janoubia website, which cites the Lebanese daily al-Safir. L'Orient Today's correspondent confirmed that Abdallah was also the son of Manah Abdallah, a retired senior member of Hezbollah's security apparatus.

According to security sources, Manah Abdallah was sent to Iraq on security missions before being arrested by U.S. forces in Baghdad on March 1, 2004. A week later, on March 8, members of the Abdallah family requested the intervention of the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to obtain information about his fate.

A family delegation went to the Ministry, where they were received by an official. It was only in 2008, following a prisoner exchange supervised by former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, that Manah Abdallah was released and repatriated to Beirut.

Israel has killed 143  people in Lebanon since the truce came into effect, 71 of whom, according to a review conducted by the U.N., were civilians, despite Israeli claims that it's targeting Hezbollah fighters.