An Israeli airstrike on a building in Beirut's densely populated Ras al-Nabaa neighborhood on Sunday killed Mohammad Afif, Hezbollah’s media relations head, according to two Lebanese security sources.
The strike targeted a building housing Ba’ath Party offices, and the sources confirmed that Afif was present at the time. Hezbollah has not yet confirmed his death.
The Israeli military declined to comment on the strike when contacted by sources, and no evacuation order was issued for the area before the attack. The building hit was located in a district where many residents displaced by Israeli bombing from the southern suburbs of Beirut had sought refuge.
Footage from Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed showed the aftermath of the strike, with the upper floors of the building collapsed, and civil defense teams working at the scene. The blast resulted in one death and three injuries, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Ambulances were heard rushing to the site, and gunfire was heard as security forces worked to control crowds.
Afif was a long-serving media advisor to Hezbollah's former secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, and had managed Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV station for several years before taking charge of the media relations office. He had been outspoken in recent months, emphasizing Hezbollah's military readiness in the ongoing conflict with Israel, which escalated significantly after the October 2023 rocket attacks by Hezbollah in response to a deadly Hamas attack on Israel.
The strike is part of ongoing Israeli military actions in Lebanon, which have intensified since September 2023, as Israel continued its air campaign and ground incursions.
