IDF kills two Hezbollah commanders in southern Lebanon

Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Two Hezbollah commanders were killed in Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon , the Israel Defense Forces said Thursday.

The IDF said in a statement that Israeli warplanes struck and killed Ahmad Moustafa al-Haj Ali, commander of the Houla Front, whom the Israeli military as responsible for hundreds of missile and anti-tank attacks targeting the Kiryat Shmona area in northern Israel, close to the Lebanon border.

The second target "eliminated" was Mohammad Ali Hamdan, commander of Hezbollah's anti-tank unit in the Meiss El Jabal area in southern Lebanon.

The IDF said Hamdan was "responsible for extensive anti-tank missile attacks toward communities in northern Israel."

It was unclear where exactly the targets were killed and if they were killed in the same or separate attacks.

מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר, תקפו וחיסלו בהכוונת חטיבת האש 7338, את מפקד מרחב חולא בארגון הטרור חיזבאללה, המחבל אחמד מצטפא אלחאג׳ עלי, אשר היה אחראי על מאות שיגורי תלול-מסלול ונ"ט לעבר מרחב קריית שמונה>> pic.twitter.com/15MgF7e19V — צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 10, 2024

Israel has ramped up its operations targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon since Sept. 23.

Israel and Hezbollah have been trading attacks over the Lebanese border since Oct. 8, 2023, a day after the war between Israel and Hamas, another Iran-proxy militia began.

Last month, Israel altered its war objectives to include the return of tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis to their northern homes.

Amid the war, 2,141 people have been killed in Lebanon, more than 1,300 since Sept. 23, according to Lebanon's ministry of health .

In Gaza, health officials are reporting more than 42,000 deaths, and nearly 98,000 wounded.