A senior Hezbollah commander has been killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon, according to a Lebanese security official. The Lebanese group made public a series of photographs of Wissam al-Tawil also known as 'Jawad', showing him with top Hezbollah commanders who were killed before him and senior officials, including the group's chief Hassan Nasrallah. Reports suggest that a car Tawil was in was targeted in the Khirbet Selm area, before veering off the road and catching fire. Middle East correspondent for Sky News, Alistair Bunkall, said the commander belonged to the Radwan force - and the strike comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to Israel for talks to prevent a wider war.
He said: "So clearly the Israeli are deliberately trying to send a message to Hezbollah, by targeting this commander from this unit, that they are in no mood to be messed around on the border.
"Whether or not Hezbollah listens to that and decides to back off, or the opposite could happen and things could flare up.
"At the moment, with tensions as they are, it's more likely things will flare up."
The killing of al-Tawil is coming a few days after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the killing of a Hamas deputy leader, Saleh al-Arouri, will not go unpunished. The Hamas leader was killed in a drone strike in Lebanon. The drone attack is believed to have been carried out by Israel which has not claimed, nor denied responsibility.
Hezbollah has lost over 130 fighters in Israeli shelling on southern Lebanon since cross-border bombardment began on 7 October. Hezbollah rocket attacks on Israel have also killed about a dozen Israelis.
