Journalist affiliated with Hezbollah killed in Israeli strike on Zahrani road

BEIRUT — Israel killed a journalist in a drone strike against a vehicle that was driving along the Zahrani road in Nabatieh district. The victim, identified as Mohammad Shehadeh, was reportedly also a member of Hezbollah, who Israel continues to attack despite a November cease-fire, killing more than 300 people since the supposed truce came into effect.

Shehadeh ran the online news outlet "Hawana Lubnan," and Hezbollah announced Shehadeh had been killed "on the road to Jerusalem," the phrased used by the party since October 2023 to refer to its members killed by Israel.

Israel claimed, via a message posted by its Arabic-language spokesperson, that Shehadeh had been the head of intelligence of Hezbollah's elite Radwan forces.

Throughout Friday morning, an Israeli drone flew over the villages of Zahrani (Saida) in southern Lebanon, while overnight, a helicopter flew over the border villages of Maroun al-Ras, Aitaroun, Blida and Mais al-Jabal, in the eastern and central sectors.

In the afternoon, an Israeli drone targeted a bulldozer on the outskirts of the village of Aitaroun, in the district of Bint Jbeil. After the attack, which did not cause any casualties, an Israeli drone dropped leaflets on the village claiming the bulldozer had been operating on behalf of Hezbollah, despite information from local residents to the contrary.

The Israeli army also attacked Civil Defense response teams with projectiles launched from a drone as they were on their way to extinguish fires in Jibbein, where another drone had fired incendiary grenades an hour earlier.

These attacks come a day after two Israeli strikes in the Bekaa: one in Kfar Dan, near Baalbeck, and the other on the Masnaa road, near the Syrian border, in which seven people were killed, according to the Health Ministry.

These attacks took place as the Lebanese government adopted the roadmap proposed by Washington, which notably includes the disarmament of all armed groups, starting with Hezbollah, by the end of the year.

According to a count by L'Orient Today, based on figures from the U.N. and the Health Ministry, the number of people killed in Lebanon in Israeli attacks, strikes and gunfire has now reached 302 since the truce went into effect, in addition to the 4,047 dead and 16,638 wounded officially recorded by the Health Ministry in a report published at the beginning of December.