IDF eliminates Iran-linked Fatah terrorist in Lebanon, carries out intense airstrikes on Hezbollah targets

Hezbollah: Attacks were not a response to Shukr's death, retaliation will come

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Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday eliminated a senior Palestinian terrorist whose job was to smuggle weapons from Lebanon into Judea and Samaria.

The Israeli airstrike targeted and killed Khalil al-Maqdah as he was driving in the Palestinian Mieh Mieh camp near the city of Sidon on Wednesday amid ongoing intense fire exchanges following Israeli strikes on Hezbollah’s strategic weapon depots.

According to the Alma Research Center, al-Maqdah was a senior member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the military wing of the Fatah party, which governs the Palestinian Authority.

His main activities, together with his brother Munir al-Maqdah, were focused on working with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran's Lebanese terror proxy group Hezbollah to transfer money and funds to terrorists in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), as well as directing terror attacks there.

This morning (August 21), the #IDF eliminated Khalil al-Makdah while he was driving in his vehicle in the Mieh Mieh refugee camp near Sidon. Al-Makdah, a senior commander in the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, was the brother of Munir al-Makdah, who is also a senior… pic.twitter.com/It7CvWVPZL
— Israel-Alma (@IsraelAlma_org) August 21, 2024

“In March 2024, it was revealed that weapons were smuggled into Judea and Samaria, and were transferred to squads recruited and directed by the terrorist infrastructure of Khalil and Munir al-Maqdah in Lebanon,” the IDF stated.

The army also said that the brothers worked with Javad Afari, head of Division 4000, the Special Operations Division of the Intelligence Branch in the IRGC, and Asghar Bakri, commander of Unit 840, the special operations unit of the IRGC’s Quds Force.

“Al-Maqdah’s elimination is notable as it marks the first time since the IDF began its operations in Lebanon that a Fatah-linked figure has been targeted,” Alma wrote. “The operation also highlighted, once again, the close collaboration between Palestinian elements and Iran, aimed at smuggling advanced weapons to enhance the capabilities of terrorist organizations in the West Bank.”

In Israel, commentators and journalists criticized the IDF for not emphasizing the ties of al-Maqdah to the Fatah party, led by Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority.

The targeted strike came amid a recent flare-up in the fighting on Israel’s northern border after Israel responded to a deadly drone strike that killed an IDF soldier by bombing Hezbollah’s strategic weapon depots deep within Lebanese territory.

On Wednesday, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for 12 separate attacks on Israel, including a large rocket barrage in the morning and several smaller launches of drones and rockets throughout the day, without casualties.

While Israel and the region continue to await the response forecast by Hezbollah after the killing of its military chief Fuad Shukr, a Hezbollah politician stressed that the terror group's increased attacks over the last several days were not the expected retaliation.

Ibrahim al-Mousavi, a member of the Lebanese parliament, told the Al-Jazeera channel: “The response to the assassination of Fuad Shukr will not be unclear or ambiguous, and everyone will recognize that this is it.”

מטוסי קרב תקפו במהלך הלילה יעדי טרור של חיזבאללה ביותר מ-10 מרחבים שונים בדרום לבנון.

בין המטרות שהותקפו, מחסני אמל״ח, מבנים צבאיים ומשגר ששימשו את ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה להוצאה לפועל של מתווי טרור נגד מדינת ישראל pic.twitter.com/x2vO1zUBtO
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) August 22, 2024

The IDF responded to Hezbollah’s attacks by striking military structures in the area of Kafr Kila, and struck a terror cell near Shaikhin after it had launched rockets at the town of Zar’it earlier in the day.

Overnight, Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck Hezbollah targets in at least 10 areas in southern Lebanon. Among the targets were warehouses, military buildings, and a launcher used to attack Israel, according to the IDF.