A Hamas commander was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the southern coastal Lebanese city of Sidon early Wednesday morning, the military said.

The Israel Defense Forces said the target, Khaled Ahmad al-Ahmad, served as chief of operations in the terror group’s western sector in Lebanon.

Ahmad had advanced numerous attacks on Israeli civilians and troops during the war, the IDF said, adding that, “Recently, he worked to transfer weapons and to carry out terror attacks against the State of Israel.”

The strike was carried out because “Ahmad’s activities posed a threat to the State of Israel and its citizens,” the military added.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said an “enemy drone” hit a car in the Sidon’s Villas neighborhood, near the Imam Ali Mosque. Pictures showed a Renault on fire.

Hamas confirmed al-Ahmad’s death, saying he was a field commander.

Hamas, which rules Gaza, has a significant presence in Lebanon and is allied with the Lebanese Hezbollah........

© The Times of Israel