Fathi Abu al-Aradat, a senior Fatah member, confirmed the information. A Lebanese security source and the Lebanese National News Agency also reported the same information.
Lebanese firefighters extinguish a fire in a car after an Israeli airstrike killed a Fatah leader in the city of Sidon on August 21. Photo: AFP
An AFP reporter at the scene of the attack said the car carrying Khalil al-Maqdah was hit by an air strike as it was travelling near the Palestinian refugee camps of Ain al-Hilweh and Mieh Mieh. Rescuers pulled a body from the charred vehicle.
The Israeli military also said an "air force aircraft attacked... Khalil Hussein Khalil al-Maqdah in the Sidon area of southern Lebanon".
Al-Maqdah is the brother of Mounir al-Maqdah, head of the Lebanese branch of the Fatah movement. Israel accuses him of "directing terrorist attacks" in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Meanwhile, Fatah said Al-Maqdah had a "central role" in "supporting the Palestinian people and their resistance" in Gaza and a "vital role in supporting resistance groups" for many years in the West Bank.
Khalil al-Maqdah is an influential Fatah military commander. Photo: i24 News
This is the first attack on a senior member of Fatah, the movement led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in Lebanon since the outbreak of war in Gaza.
Tawfiq Tirawy, a member of the Fatah Central Committee, told AFP in Ramallah that "the assassination of a Fatah leader is further evidence that Israel wants to ignite a full-scale war in the region".
Since the war between Hamas and Israel broke out on October 7, Hezbollah has frequently clashed with Israel on the border in support of its ally Hamas.
According to AFP, the violence has killed some 593 people in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah fighters but also at least 130 civilians. On the Israeli side, including in the occupied Golan Heights, 23 soldiers and 26 civilians have been killed, according to Israeli military figures.
Fatah has not claimed any attacks on Israel from Lebanon since the Israel-Hamas conflict began, nor has it mourned Hezbollah or Hamas members killed by Israel in Lebanon.
Although both are Palestinian political and armed movements, Hamas and Fatah have become rivals since Hamas forced Fatah to leave Gaza after the 2006 elections in the strip.
Currently, the Fatah movement is the leading body of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and has partial administrative control in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Nguyen Khanh (according to AFP, Le Monde)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/israel-khong-kich-lam-thiet-mang-quan-chuc-cap-cao-cua-phong-trao-fatah-o-lebanon-post308716.html
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