Hezbollah mourns media relations chief killed in Israeli airstrike

ISTANBUL

Hezbollah officially mourned the death of the Lebanese group’s media relations chief, Mohammed Afif, who was killed Sunday in an Israeli airstrike on the Ras al-Nabaa area in the heart of Lebanon's capital Beirut.

"We mourn Mohammad Afif al-Nabulsi, the media relations officer of Hezbollah, who departed this world alongside the best of his fellow fighters in a criminal, aggressive Zionist (Israeli) airstrike, after an honorable journey in the fields of jihad and resistant media work," the group said in a statement.

The statement confirmed that Afif "was a strong supporter, a guardian of the voice of resistance, and a key pillar in Hezbollah's media, political and jihadist path."

Earlier in the day, the official Israeli Broadcasting Authority (KAN) announced Afif's assassination, while the group's Al-Manar television channel said he "was one of the most prominent faces of Hezbollah’s media office, taking on the task of conveying its messages and clarifying its policies to the public in the most difficult and trying circumstances."

The Secretary-General of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in Lebanon, Ali Hijazi, also mourned him on X, saying: "May God have mercy on you, dear, beloved and martyred brother...You knew you would join the ranks of the martyrs."

With Afif's assassination, analysts say that Israel has shifted from targeting military leaders and officials within Hezbollah to political and media leaders.

The Israeli airstrike, which targeted a building in the Ras al-Nabaa area, killed at least one person and injured at least three others. It marked the second attack on the area since Israel’s aggression on Lebanon began on Oct. 8, 2023.

Israel launched an air campaign in Lebanon against what it claims are targets of the Hezbollah group in late September, in an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare over Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.

More than 3,400 people have been killed, over 14,600 injured and more than 1 million displaced by Israeli attacks since last October, according to Lebanese health authorities.