Iranian terror proxy Hezbollah has confirmed that its propaganda chief died in a targeted attack on the Lebanese capital.
The armed group disclosed that its leading press spokesman Mohammad Afif was killed by an Israeli strike on a building in central Beirut on Sunday, November 17th. The organisation described him on its Telegram messaging channel as a “supporting pillar” of Hezbollah’s media and political work.
Israel’s action is unusual in that Afif lacked a clear military role and was killed away from the pro-Iranian militia’s stronghold among civilians in Beirut’s southern suburbs (which were also shelled in a separate attack).
Damaged in an attack in 2006, Afif’s house had been rebuilt and was being used as terrorist infrastructure, according to the Jerusalem Post. The Israeli Defense Forces said they had issued an evacuation order and published a map showing intended target areas before the attack.
Previously the manager of Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television station, Afif was the media adviser to Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, himself killed in Beirut on September 27th. In October, Afif said that it “would not be long before we have Israeli captives.” In his last comment to reporters, on November 11th, he said Hezbollah had enough weapons and supplies to “fight a long war.”
The IDF described Afif as
a senior Hezbollah military operative, in contact with senior officials and directly involved in advancing and executing Hezbollah’s terrorist activities against Israel. … Messages broadcasted by Afif to the Lebanese media glorified and incited terrorist activities against Israel, and he was responsible for numerous psychological terror operations against the Israeli public.
“The elimination of this individual, if indeed carried out by Israel, carries significant implications, a security official told Maariv on Sunday. Political commentator Marwan Al-Amin told the publication, “Afif played a key role in raising morale among the organisation’s supporters. He continued the leadership’s line of arrogance, but did so in a way that was better received by public opinion.”
The Lebanese health ministry initially described the strike, on a building housing Ba’ath Party offices, as killing one and injuring three. The death has since been reported as four.
Over the same weekend, Hezbollah fired around 80 projectiles at Israel. The group began to intensify its rocket attacks on Israel the day after the Hamas pogrom of October 7th, 2023, prompting Israeli retaliation.
