Senior Hizbollah and Hamas figures killed as fears grow of regional war

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Senior figures in the Hizbollah and Hamas militant groups were killed on Monday in separate incidents, the latest in a spate of deaths attributed to Israel that have fuelled fears of a wider conflagration in the Middle East.

Wissam Tawil, a senior commander in Lebanon’s powerful Hizbollah paramilitary force, was killed in a strike in the south of the country, the group said in a statement, blaming Israel for the “assassination”.

Israel Katz, Israel’s foreign minister, appeared to confirm the claim in a television interview on Monday night, saying: “The attack in south Lebanon . . . we took responsibility . . . this is part of our war.” Katz described Tawil as the “de facto commander” of Hizbollah’s elite Radwan forces. Until Katz’s comments, Israel had not taken responsibility for, nor officially commented on, the assassination.

Tawil is thought to be the most senior member of Hizbollah to be killed since Israel and the Lebanese militant group began trading fire across their shared border on October 8, one day after its ally Hamas carried out its deadly assault on Israel.

Meanwhile Israel said it had killed Hassan Hakashah in a strike in Beit Jinn in Syria, accusing him of being a “central figure” responsible for recent Hamas rocket launches directed from the country at Israel.

“We will not allow terrorism from Syrian territory and hold Syria responsible for all activity emanating from its territory,” the Israeli military said in a statement.

Neither Syria nor the Palestinian militant group have commented on Hakashah’s death.

The killings came as US secretary of state Antony Blinken was on his fourth visit to the Middle East since October, in an effort to prevent mounting tensions spilling over into a full-blown regional war.

Israel and Iran have been engaged in an increasingly overt confrontation…