ANKARA

The Israeli army claimed on Friday that it had killed Hassan Farhat, the commander of Hamas' Western Sector in Lebanon, in an airstrike on the southern Lebanese city of Sidon.

According to Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee, the attack, which took place Thursday night, targeted Farhat, who was accused of “orchestrating several attacks against Israeli forces.”

Farhat was allegedly responsible for “launching rocket attacks toward the Israeli city of Safed on Feb. 14, 2024, which resulted in the death of a soldier and injuries to several others,” he added.

In response, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian group Hamas, confirmed the death of their leader Hassan Farhat, along with his daughter Janan and son Hamza.

The Al-Qassam Brigades said the three were killed in an “Israeli assassination operation that targeted their apartment in the city of Sidon, southern Lebanon.”

Hamas, in a separate statement, confirmed that Farhat and his family "were martyred in a treacherous Zionist airstrike that targeted their home in Sidon early Friday."

Earlier, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that an “Israeli airstrike on an apartment in Sidon early this morning killed three individuals,” without giving further details.

A fragile ceasefire had been in place in Lebanon since November, ending months of cross-border warfare between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, which escalated into a full-scale conflict last September.

Lebanese authorities reported more than 1,364 Israeli violations of the ceasefire, including at least 117 fatalities and more than 363 injuries.

Under the ceasefire deal, Israel was supposed to fully withdraw from southern Lebanon by Jan. 26, but the deadline was extended to Feb. 18 after it refused to comply. It still maintains a military presence at five border outposts.