NY.– Israeli forces killed a Hezbollah commander with a drone in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, prompting the Lebanese militia to retaliate with a rocket attack from across the border, while international diplomats rushed to prevent the war from spreading.
The commander, Mohammad Naameh Nasser, also known as Abu Naameh, was one of the highest-ranking Hezbollah fighters to be eliminated since the militia opened fire in northern Israel in solidarity with Hamas, the armed group at war with Israel in Gaza.
He headed Hezbollah’s Aziz unit, one of the group’s main fighting forces along the Lebanese border, according to the Israeli military and a senior Lebanese intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue.
Hezbollah said it fired 100 rockets at military targets across the border as part of “an initial response,” setting off alarm bells in communities across northern Israel.
The Israeli military said most of the rockets landed in cleared areas.
The militia, which is backed by Iran, continued to claim attacks throughout the afternoon.
Naameh’s death, which Israel’s military confirmed in a statement, was the latest in a series of Israeli killings of Hezbollah commanders in Lebanon, one of which sparked an escalation of attacks across the border last month that the Biden administration has struggled to contain.
As tensions have risen, analysts have warned that such attacks could lead to an escalation and the danger of open war.
Amal Saad, a Cardiff University academic who researches Hezbollah, said that while the powerful militia was unlikely to be drawn into a war over the killing, recent threats by Israeli officials would not deter Hezbollah from responding with force.
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