The IDF confirmed the assassination of Muhammad Neamah Naser, also known as Abu Neamah, the head of Hezbollah's Aziz regional division, and one of the terrorist group's most senior commanders eliminated since the outbreak of the war.
According to an army statement, Naser entered his position in 2016 and led the firing of rockets and anti-tank missiles from southwestern Lebanon toward Israeli civilians, communities and security forces. The statement added that Naser directed a large number of terror attacks toward Israel both during and before the war and has previously filled several other central roles within Hezbollah.
The Shiite terrorist organization confirmed his death. Another individual, whose identity has yet to be determined, was also killed alongside him.
Security sources in the country confirmed that Nasser was the commander of Hezbollah's Aziz regional division, holding a rank equivalent to Abu Taleb, the highest-ranking Hezbollah commander assassinated by Israel in Lebanon to date.
Shortly after the assassination, sirens sounded in the northern Israeli towns of Shtula, Manara and Kiryat Shmona, where three rockets exploded in an unpopulated area south of the city, causing no casualties.
Abu Neamah resided in the town of Haddatha in southern Lebanon, which has been a target of IDF strikes since the start of the war. He was assassinated in a vehicle by a drone strike southeast of Tyre. Some reports suggest his son was also killed in the attack, though these have yet to be confirmed.
In ןאד statement, Hezbollah referred to him as a "martyr commander," a title previously given to only two other assassinated commanders: Radwan forces commander Wissam al-Tawil, killed in January, and Abu Taleb, killed last month. In total, Hezbollah has confirmed the deaths of 360 of its operatives since the beginning of the war.
The Aziz division, commanded by Abu Neamah, oversees a wide area from southern Lebanon to Al-Bekaa in the country's interior. Hezbollah operates several other units in different regions of Lebanon: the Nasr unit, previously commanded by Abu Taleb, operates in southern Lebanon from the Israeli border to the Litani River; the Badr unit operates in the south from north of the Litani River to the city of Sidon; the Haidar unit operates in central Al-Bekaa, Baalbek, and Hermel; and another unit operates in the Dahiya area, though its name is unknown. These units are geographically distributed, but other units operate based on specific domains.
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday that Israel would prefer a diplomatic solution to the crisis on the Lebanon border "but if forced to by reality on the ground, we will know how to fight," he said on a visit to troops in Gaza.