Tel Aviv, 30 September 2024 (dpa/MIA) — The leader of Palestinian extremist group Hamas in Lebanon has been killed in an Israeli airstrike, the group said on Monday.

Fatah Sharif Abu al-Amine was killed alongside family members in his home near the coastal city of Tyre in southern Lebanon, the statement said.

The Israeli army initially did not comment on the claim.

In January, Saleh al-Arouri, then the second-highest ranking Hamas leader abroad, was killed in an airstrike in Beirut. The Lebanese Hezbollah militia, which is allied with Hamas, blamed Israel for his death.

The Lebanese militia, considered a terrorist organization by the US, the European Union and Israel, has been launching attacks on northern Israel since the beginning of the Gaza war in support of Hamas.

Following almost a year of cross-border skirmishes, Israel launched a massive aerial campaign on targets across Lebanon last week, with the stated aim of pushing back Hezbollah to enable the return of tens of thousands of residents evacuated from northern Israel.

As the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah continues, hundreds have been killed and tens of thousands of people displaced in Lebanon. The escalation has heightened fears that the region is on the brink of all-out war.

The international community is urging de-escalation amidst continued Israeli strikes and Hezbollah retaliations, but efforts for a ceasefire have so far been rejected by both sides.

Hezbollah is part of Iran’s so-called axis of resistance – a network of Iran-allied groups that includes the Palestinian Hamas organization, Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen.