An Israeli drone strike near Beirut hit a man travelling on the Khaldeh highway south of the Lebanese capital on Wednesday, according to Lebanese security sources and eyewitnesses.
A dpa reporter at the scene said an Israeli drone was observed tracking a vehicle before firing three rockets at its target.
The man was seen leaving his car under a bridge and then running toward nearby bushes. Moments later, the drone targeted the area where he had taken cover.
The reporter later witnessed emergency responders carrying a man on a stretcher as smoke rose from the scene.
Lebanese security sources identified the target as Abdel Qassem, known as Abu Arab. The sources said he was believed to be a member of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia, although his rank and role within the group were not immediately known.
According to the same sources, Qassem had allegedly survived an earlier attempted strike in the southern port city of Sidon on Tuesday morning before being targeted again on the Khaldeh highway, which links southern Lebanese areas with the capital Beirut.
There was no initial comment from the Israeli army.
The strike came amid a wider wave of Israeli attacks across southern Lebanon.
Earlier, the Lebanese Health Ministry said six people – four Syrians and two Palestinians – were killed in an Israeli attack near the coastal city of Tyre.
Two paramedics were also killed on Wednesday in an Israeli strike on the country's south, the ministry said, with at least 130 emergency and health workers now killed since the Israel-Hezbollah war began in March.
Lebanese state media and security sources reported dozens of additional strikes in the Tyre and Nabatiyeh regions.
