Israel confirms killing senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon airstrike

The Israeli army confirmed Wednesday the killing of a senior Hezbollah commander in an airstrike in southern Lebanon.

Taleb Abdullah and three other Hezbollah fighters were killed in a strike in the border town of Jouaiyya Tuesday night.

The Israeli army published footage of the airstrike on a building in Jouaiyya in which the senior Hezbollah commander was killed.

Abdullah was the most senior Hezbollah commander killed by Israel since the outbreak of cross-border attacks between the two sides last Oct. 8.

Israeli media said that Abdullah was the commander of Hezbollah's Nasr unit, one of the group's three regional divisions in southern Lebanon.

Israel blames Abdullah for numerous rocket attacks on northern Israel over the past eight months.

Maariv newspaper termed his killing as "the most dramatic," expecting retaliatory attacks from the Lebanese group.

In January, Israel assassinated Wissam al-Tawil, a senior Hezbollah commander, in an airstrike in southern Lebanon.

At least 340 Hezbollah fighters have been killed in border clashes with Israel since last October, according to an Anadolu tally.

Tensions have flared along Lebanon's border with Israel amid cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israeli forces as Tel Aviv pressed ahead with its deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 37,200 people since last October following a Hamas attack.