A senior operative in Hezbollah’s air defense unit was killed in a drone strike in Lebanon's northeastern Baalbek district, the IDF said Saturday night.
According to the military, Meitham Mustafa Alattar, known by his call sign Hadi, "led many of the unit's activities and took part in the planning and carrying out of numerous terror attacks against the State of Israel."
Meitham reportedly traveled to Iran multiple times, where he "gained knowledge and assisted in building up the Hezbollah terrorist organisation’s force and arsenal of Iranian weapons."
The IDF added that his elimination significantly weakens Hezbollah's aerial defense capabilities.
Lebanese media reported Alattar was killed when a drone struck his car on the Baalbek-al-Qaa road, about 70 miles from the Israeli border.
Lebanese media described Alattar, a native of the town of Shaat in the Bekaa district, as a senior military figure working in the missile array of the Shiite terrorist organization. Hezbollah later announced his death.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah-owned Lebanese network Al Manar reported a target was struck from the air in the southern Lebanon towns of Odaisseh and Kfarkela.
The IDF reported Saturday morning that Israeli Air Force fighter jets and aircraft struck several Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon overnight, including a military site near Kfarkela, terrorists identified in the Bint Jbeil area and a terror site identified in the city and the Yarin area. Sirens sounded along the northern border throughout the day.