Israeli strike on Beirut kills Hezbollah media head, say security sources

An Israeli strike on a building in a densely populated district of Beirut on Sunday killed Hezbollah's media relations chief Mohammad Afif, two Lebanese security sources told Reuters, though there was no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah.

The Israeli military declined to comment in response to questions from Reuters. There was no evacuation order for the area published on the Israeli military spokesperson's account on social media platform X before the strike.

The strike hit the Ras al-Nabaa neighborhood where many people displaced from Beirut's southern suburbs by the Israeli bombardment had been seeking refuge.

The security sources said it struck a building where the offices of the Ba'ath Party are located, and the head of the party in Lebanon, Ali Hijazi, told Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed that Afif was in the building.

The broadcaster later also said Afif had been killed. It showed footage of a building whose upper floors had collapsed onto the first storey, with civil defence workers at the scene.

Ambulances could be heard rushing to the scene, and bursts of gunfire rang out to prevent crowds of people from approaching the location.