Israel army says member of elite Iran unit killed in Lebanon strike

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said it killed a member of Iran’s elite Quds Force in a strike in Lebanon on Thursday, accusing him of planning attacks against Israel.

The military identified the target as Hussein Mahmud Marshad al-Jawhari, “a key terrorist in the operational unit of the Quds Force”, the foreign operations arm of the Revolutionary Guards.

“Hussein was involved in terror activities, directed by Iran, against the state of Israel and its security forces” from Lebanon and Syria, the military said.

In June, Israel sparked a 12-day war with Iran when it launched a wave of strikes on military and nuclear sites, as well as residential areas, saying it sought to cripple the Islamic republic’s atomic research and ballistic missile programmes.

Lebanese soldier among those killed in Monday Israeli strike

Iran responded with drone and missile strikes on Israel, and later in war, the United States joined Israel in briefly targeting Iranian nuclear facilities before declaring a ceasefire.

Iran, which does not recognise Israel, has long accused it of conducting sabotage operations against its nuclear facilities and assassinating its scientists.

It also backs groups around the region as part of its so-called axis of resistance, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Palestinian movement Hamas, both of which Israel has fought major conflicts with in the past two years.

Earlier on Thursday, Israel announced the arrest of an Israeli man on suspicion of committing security offences under the direction of Iranian intelligence services.