The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) launched an airstrike targeting a car in the city of Sidon in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, August 21. Khalil al-Maqdah, a top ranking military leader of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) was assassinated in the airstrike.
Munir al-Maqdah, who is the brother of Khalil al-Miqdah and also a top leader in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, mourned his brother while speaking to Al Mayadeen saying: “Assassinations make us stronger, this martyrdom is a badge of honor, and the resistance is still steadfast on the ground.” Speaking to media outlets, Munir also threatened to avenge Khalil’s assassination inside Israel.
The IOF claimed that both Khalil and Munir are connected to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and accused them of directing attacks and smuggling weapons into the occupied West Bank. Fatah has accused Israel of stoking tensions with the assassination of Khalil al-Maqdah. “The assassination of a Fatah official is further proof that Israel wants to ignite a full-scale war in the region,” Tawfiq al-Tirawi, a member of Fatah’s central committee, told AFP.
The IOF also launched airstrikes on the village of Beit Lif, and the town of Al-Wazzani in southern Lebanon, killing at least two people including a Syrian national, and Hezbollah fighter Hussein Mohammad Mostafa. The assassination of Mostafa, has taken up the death toll among Hezbollah fighters, who were killed since October 8, 2023 to 421 according to Anadolu News Agency.
As Israel is launching provocative attacks on different fronts of the region, Iran has not seemed to set back its promised attack to avenge the assassination of the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh, on July 31, 2024. The spokesperson of (IRGC), Ali-Mohammad Naeini, stated on Tuesday, August 20 that “Iran’s response could differ from previous operations against Israel” and that Tehran will not take “hasty action.”
