Jerusalem:
The Israeli military and Shin Bet security agency have said they have killed Muhammad Ahmed Albek, the head of the National Security Directorate of Hamas’ security services, in an airstrike on a school in Gaza. At least eight people were killed in Sunday’s attack on the Musa bin Nusair school in the Daraj al-Tuffah area of ​​Gaza City, according to Palestinian health officials. This school was providing shelter to displaced people. The Israeli army and Shin Bet claimed in a joint statement that a Hamas command center was located inside the school compound, which was attacked by the air force, Xinhua news agency reported.
“Hamas’ Security Directorate prepares intelligence assessments that support Hamas decision-making and is also responsible for the security of senior Hamas members,” the statement said. It also provides them with hiding places to ensure continuity of military activities. It described Albek as a central figure in Hamas’s security apparatus.
Meanwhile, two people were killed and one injured in an Israeli drone strike on the village of Taybeh in southern Lebanon on Monday, according to official media reports and military sources.
The national news agency reported that the airstrike targeted a group of people near a school in Taybeh.
A Lebanese Red Cross source told Xinhua that its team transported two bodies and one injured person from Taybeh to a hospital in Nabatieh in southern Lebanon.
A Lebanese military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said an Israeli drone fired an air-to-ground missile near a school in Taybeh, killing two people and wounding another.
The source said that the Israeli army also opened fire from heavy machine guns towards the outskirts of Nakoura city in southern Lebanon.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon issued a statement on Monday calling on all parties to stop violating UN Resolution 1701 and refrain from any action that could threaten the cessation of hostilities and the current fragile stability.
“UNIFIL strongly urges the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon and the acceleration of progress on the deployment of Lebanese forces there,” the statement said.
A ceasefire brokered by the US and France came into effect on November 27, aimed at stopping the nearly 14-month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah.
The terms of the ceasefire agreement include Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanese territory within 60 days, along with the deployment of Lebanese forces to assume security along the Lebanon-Israel border and in southern Lebanon, and a ban on the presence of weapons and terrorists in the area.
