An Israeli military drone strike on a car near Tyre, a city in coastal Lebanon, killed a leader of the Hamas Palestinian militant group who had been responsible for worldwide attacks against Israelis and Jews, officials said Wednesday.
Israel Defense Forces officials called the target of the strike, Hadi Ali Mustafa, a “significant operative” in the organizational wing of Hamas responsible for international actions. Both the U.S. and Israel consider Hamas to be a terrorist organization.
“Hadi directed terrorist cells and activities in the field and advanced terror attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets in various countries around the world,” the IDF said Wednesday on its Telegram social messaging page.
A short surveillance video released by the IDF shows a white car driving along a road in Tyre when it explodes, turning the vehicle into a flaming, mangled wreck.
The drone strike came a day after Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters launched more than 100 rockets into Israel. The barrage was among the heaviest recent cross-border strikes that have threatened to expand the ongoing war in Gaza.
“The IDF and Israeli security forces will continue to operate against the Hamas terrorist organization in every arena in which it operated,” Israeli officials said following Wednesday’s drone strike.