Hezbollah confirms the death of its top commander Wissam al-Tawil in a suspected Israeli strike as fears of a major confrontation in Lebanon grow.

Hezbollah confirmed on Monday the death of Wissam al Tawil, the deputy head of a unit within the Radwan force, in charge of the group’s special operations, whose main mission is to infiltrate Israeli territory.

According to Lebanese state media, Al Tawil was in a vehicle that was attacked by an Israeli drone in the Khibert Salem area of ​​Bint Jebel city in southern Lebanon.

The attack caused the car to veer off the road and catch fire.

“This It is a very painful blow” a security source told Reuters news agency.

After the attack, a medical team and emergency responders rushed to the scene to douse the fire.

Hezbollah, a Lebanese Islamist political group with a powerful Iranian-backed military wing, has been clashing with Israeli forces along the Lebanese-Israeli border since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.

More than 130 Hezbollah fighters have been killed by Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon since the cross-border bombing began.

Hezbollah is also one of the largest political parties in Lebanon.

Its Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah warned in November Further escalation on the Lebanese front is “a real possibility”. Counter Israel’s attack.

Wissam al-Tawil is the highest-ranking Hezbollah official killed in Lebanon since the start of the war between Hamas and Israel.

Last week, following an alleged Israeli attack that killed a senior Hamas official in Beirut, Hezbollah’s leader again warned Israel not to start a conflict because it would “regret it.”

Hamas-led Gaza health authorities say the Israeli military response has killed nearly 23,000 Palestinians since the Hamas attack on Israel, which killed 1,139 people.

Analysis by Hugo Bachega

BBC correspondent in Beirut

Hezbollah and the Israeli army are firing almost daily along the Lebanese-Israeli border. Fear of a major collision.

So far the violence has been largely contained in the border areas.

Hezbollah has calibrated its actions to avoid full-scale war with Israel, which has warned that its response would be devastating.

Last week, reacting to an alleged Israeli attack that killed a senior Hamas official in the Hezbollah stronghold of Beirut, leader Hassan Nasrallah warned Israeli authorities not to start a conflict, saying they would regret it.

Also His actions did not threaten to escalate

Many here still remember the devastation caused by the month-long conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.

In Lebanon, which is currently experiencing a severe economic crisis, there is no public support for military confrontation.

However, miscalculation always poses a risk.

And in Israel, some senior figures have advocated a broader offensive against Hezbollah to reduce the threat posed by the group and to allow the return of thousands of residents displaced from northern Israel by persistent attacks.

“We will create a completely different reality (in the North) or we will end up in another war”Israeli Army Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Herzl Halevi said on Sunday.

Hezbollah – whose name means Party of God – is a Shiite Islamic political party and Iranian-backed paramilitary group that wields great power in Lebanon.

It has been directed by Hassan Nasrallah since 1992 and has become The most powerful military force in the Arab nation.

The group has also gradually gained influence in Lebanon’s political system and holds veto power in the cabinet.

The organization is viewed by some Lebanese as a threat to the country’s stability, but what it represents is popular among the Lebanese Shiite community.

Hezbollah was officially created in 1985 with the publication of an “open letter” that identified the United States and the Soviet Union as the main enemies of Islam and raised the destruction of Israel as a main objective.

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