IDF precision strike eliminates Hezbollah’s top spokesman and senior commander in Beirut

A precise Israeli airstrike on the Syrian Baath Party headquarters in Beirut on Sunday killed Hezbollah’s media chief and senior commander, Muhammad Afif, both Hezbollah and the IDF confirmed in the evening.

The terror group announced the death of Afif, calling him a “martyr, jihad fighter, and leader,” indicating his high status within the organization.

According to Army Radio, Afif not only led the group’s media office and served as its main spokesman, but in recent months also took on military responsibilities after being one of the few veteran commanders who hadn’t yet been eliminated by Israel.

The IDF said that Afif “joined Hezbollah in the 1980s and was a central and veteran figure in the organization who greatly influenced Hezbollah's military activity. Afif was in contact with senior officials to advance, plan and direct military operations.”

The army added that Afif directed propaganda efforts, such as the video clips being released by Hezbollah and the claim of responsibility for the drone strike on the private home of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Afif outlined messages conveyed in the Lebanese media and made sure to increase and echo the acts of terrorism against the citizens of the State of Israel and the IDF forces, while working to strengthen the image of Hezbollah, improve the morale of the operatives in the organization and spread psychological terror among the Israeli public,” the IDF said.

The strike that killed Afif was unusual in several ways. It was carried out not in the Dahiyeh, Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs, but closer to the city center.

At the time of the strike, Afif was in the offices of the Syrian Baath Party, the party of dictator Bashar al-Assad. Neither Hezbollah nor the IDF commented on the location of the strike.

A family member of Afif later blamed spies working for Israel for his death. “The spies, the traitors, are the ones who presented his head on a silver platter to Israel,” said a female member of Afif’s family, according to Kan News.

Afif himself had accused Lebanese journalists who oppose Hezbollah of sending locations of relevant targets to Israel in the past.

In addition, the strike that killed the media chief was carried out without prior warning, unlike most of the Israeli strikes in Beirut.

In October, Afif was holding a press conference in Dahiyeh when IDF Arabic spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee issued an evacuation notice for buildings in the area, forcing him to break off the briefing.

At the time, Afif said, “The bombing does not scare us, nor the threats. Our will is firm, and our determination is strong.”

Meanwhile, the IDF announced it struck six more targets in Dahiyeh, after first warning residents of the nearby areas to evacuate. “All of the targets that were attacked were placed in the heart of the civilian population by Hezbollah. This is another example of the terror organization Hezbollah's cynical use of Lebanese citizens as human shields,” the army said.

The six destroyed targets included munitions warehouses, headquarters and other military infrastructure.

“The attacks are another part of the IDF's operation to hit Hezbollah's terror stronghold in Dahiyeh, from where the terror organization plans and carries out acts of terror against the citizens of the State of Israel.”