Jerusalem, August 16, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
An Israeli airstrike killed a senior Hezbollah commander in southern Lebanon, the Israeli military said on Sunday, as renewed strikes and clashes added to tensions along the border.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Abu Hassan Alaa, a commander in Hezbollah’s Badr regional division, was killed late Saturday in a strike on Deir al-Zahrani. The military described the operation as a response to an earlier Hezbollah drone attack targeting Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, in which three soldiers were wounded.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that Israeli warplanes struck a two-storey building, killing at least four people and injuring five others.
The latest strike followed another deadly attack in the southern village of Ansar, where seven people were killed in heavy Israeli airstrikes on Saturday, according to the report. It was described as one of the deadliest Israeli attacks since a ceasefire was reached in 2024.
The IDF also said on Saturday that its forces had killed Ali Samir Al-Haj Hassan, a battalion commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, during overnight strikes in southern Lebanon.
According to the Israeli military, Hassan was targeted at a Hezbollah headquarters in Ansar in Nabatieh District after Hezbollah forces attacked Israeli troops operating in what Israel described as a “security zone”. The military said several other militants involved in planning and advancing attacks against Israeli soldiers were also killed.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said three Israeli soldiers were seriously wounded in the Hezbollah attack and claimed that the IDF subsequently struck the Hezbollah headquarters from which the attack had been ordered.
The military also said Hassan’s family was inside the headquarters when the strike took place.
Meanwhile, United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) spokesperson Kandice Ardiel stressed the continuing importance of an international presence in southern Lebanon.
Ardiel said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had presented three options to the UN Security Council for consideration. She added that UNIFIL peacekeepers remained deployed in southern Lebanon and continued supporting the parties in implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which she described as the cornerstone of stability in the region.
UNIFIL is also continuing to support efforts to strengthen the presence of the Lebanese army and extend state authority across southern Lebanon.
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