Palestinian militant group says three leaders killed in Beirut strike

Several members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a militant group hostile to Israel, have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut, the PFLP said on Monday.

If confirmed this would mark the first time Israel has killed members of the group since the beginning of the Gaza war and the cross-border skirmishes with Lebanese militia Hezbollah that simultaneously broke out almost a year ago.

The PFLP said three of its leaders were killed in the strike on Beirut's central neighbourhood of Kola.

The PFLP's military commander responsible for Lebanon is said to be among those killed.

Israel has not commented on the strike.

The PFLP is considered a terrorist organization by the EU, the US and Israel.

The group previously mainly operated from the Gaza Strip, but also has members based in the occupied West Bank, Syria and Lebanon.

In the 1970s, they carried out attacks together with other militant groups and joined the second Intifada, a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation between 2000 and 2005.