Israel attacks moving car, kills Hezbollah commander Jamal Murad

The Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday that they had killed the commander of Hezbollah’s artillery in the coastal sector, Jamal Murad. The forces also released a video of the precision strikes that eliminated the operative. The visuals show a vehicle moving on a deserted road being destroyed by an explosion. It isn’t clear what kind of weapon the IDF used to attack the Hezbollah commander. “IDF eliminated the artillery commander in the coastal sector of the Hezbollah terrorist organization,” theIDF said in a post on X.

IDF said that Muhammad Jamal Murad used to serve as the artillery commander of the Iran-backed group in southern Lebanon’s Al-Mansouri area.

“Earlier today, the IDF attacked and eliminated the terrorist Muhammad Jamal Murad, who served as the artillery commander in the coastal sector of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, in the Al-Mansouri area in southern Lebanon,” it wrote on X.

Israel has been fighting a protracted war in the Middle East following the 2023 attack by Hamas on Israeli cities. It has killed several top commanders of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon using precision strikes and ground assaults.

Over 1200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Israel during Hamas’ attack in October 2023. In response, Israel has killed thousands in Gaza, mostly civilians. Israel has also flattened residential buildings, hospitals, and critical infrastructure, and has been blocking aid, triggering a humanitarian crisis in Hamas-controlled Gaza.

The forces said Jamal Murad was responsible for strikes targeting Israel and was attempting to restore the artillery sector in the coastal region.

“Murad was responsible for numerous launches toward the State of Israel during the war, and in recent months, he made attempts to restore the artillery sector in the coastal region,” it added.

Murad’s activities posed a threat to the State of Israel and its citizens and constituted a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon, the IDF said.

“The IDF will continue to act to remove any threat to the State of Israel,” it added.