Israel’s army says it has “eliminated” the “commander of the Hezbollah air unit” in Lebanon. Hezbollah had previously claimed responsibility for the attack on a command center in Israel – it disputed the rank of the man now killed.
The Israeli army says it has killed a commander of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. The “commander of the Hezbollah air unit in southern Lebanon”, Ali Burji, was “eliminated” on Tuesday, an Israeli army spokesman said. He was responsible for the attack on an Israeli army base the day before. Israel’s army generally does not comment on such actions.
Hezbollah did not identify Burji as a commander in its announcement of his death. Burji was “absolutely not” the commander of the Hezbollah air unit or responsible for the attack in question, Hezbollah circles said, according to the AFP news agency.
Hezbollah: Have Command center shot at
Hezbollah had previously claimed responsibility for the attack on a command center in Israel in retaliation for the killing of one of its commanders and Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Aruri. The militia, allied with the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas, said it had fired several drones at the “command center of the army’s northern region.” The Israeli army confirmed the crash of an “enemy aircraft” at one of its bases in the north of the country. There were no injuries or damage.
According to a report by the Lebanese state news agency NNA, there was also another Israeli attack on southern Lebanon on Tuesday. Initially, security sources said that three Hezbollah fighters had been killed. Hezbollah later said four of its fighters had been killed.