The IDF killed Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander Wael Mahmoud Abd al-Halim in a targeted strike in Lebanon on Sunday night, the military announced on Monday.
The strike was conducted in the Baalbek area of Lebanon’s northwestern Bekaa region.
Halim spearheaded the integration of PIJ terrorists into Hezbollah’s combat operations, according to the IDF.
The military noted that “steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians” before the strike.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir described the operation as a “significant operational achievement.”
“In every conversation I held with the hostages who returned, the name of the arch-terrorist Izz ad-Din al-Haddad, one of the chief perpetrators of the October 7 massacre and the head of Hamas’ military wing, came up again and again,” Zamir said in a statement released on Saturday. “Today, we succeeded in eliminating him.”
The IDF will continue to pursue our enemies, strike them, and hold accountable everyone who took part in the October 7 massacre,” added Zamir. “We will not relent until we reach them all – this is our duty to all those who returned and to all citizens of the State of Israel.”
Amir Bohbot and Ariella Roitman contributed to this report.