Israel strike kills Hezbollah commander

An Israeli strike Tuesday on eastern Lebanon killed a Hezbollah commander, a source close to the group and the Israeli military said, with the Iran-backed movement saying it launched rockets in retaliation.

Hezbollah has traded near-daily fire with Israeli forces in support of ally Hamas since the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack triggered war in the Gaza Strip, with repeated escalations during more than 11 months of the cross-border violence.

A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that Mohammad Qassem al-Shaer, "a field commander" in the group's elite Radwan Force, "was targeted in an Israeli strike on a motorcycle in the Bekaa" Valley in Lebanon's east, far from the Israeli border.