The spokesperson of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, Mohammed Afif, was reportedly killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut on Sunday. The attack was just the fourth Israeli strike inside Beirut’s city limits since 2006, when a 34-day armed conflict between Israel and Hezbollah took place. Sunday’s strike hit the area, known as Ras al-Nebaa, in the middle of the day, with no evacuation warning issued. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had no comment on the strike. For years, Afif headed media relations at Hezbollah. After the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in late September, Afif was a prominent public face of the party, delivering speeches from news conferences amid the rubble in the southern suburbs of Beirut, which have been pounded by attacks since Israel began a new offensive on October 1. Israel’s apparent targeting of Afif comes amid an escalation in its offensive in Lebanon, alongside intensified…
