Three PFLP leaders killed in strike in Kola district of Beirut, IDF and Shin Bet confirm

The IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) confirmed the elimination of the terrorist Nidal Abdel-Aal, Head of the Lebanon Branch of the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine), the military said on Monday. The terrorist Imad Odeh, who was the Head of PFLP’s Military Office in Lebanon, was eliminated alongside him.

Abdel-Aal organized terrorist attacks and terror activities in the West Bank, including establishing terror infrastructure, the IDF said.

He also directed the bus bombing attack in Beitar Illit on March 9, 2023, and the shooting attack from a passing vehicle at the Huwara Junction on March 25, 2023, during which two IDF soldiers were injured. The two terror cells that carried out the attacks were apprehended by the Shin Bet.

The PFLP said in a statement in the early hours of Monday that three of its leaders were killed in an alleged Israeli strike that targeted Beirut’s Kola district, Reuters and Sky News Arabic reported.

The strike hit an upper floor of an apartment building in the Kola district, making it the first Israeli strike within Beirut’s city limits amidst the escalation, Reuters added.

According to Sky News Arabic, the members killed in the strike were Mohammad Abdel-Aal, the head of the military security department of the PFLP; Imad Awda, the PFLP’s military commander in Lebanon; and Abdul Rahman Abdel Aal.

Lebanon’s National Broadcasting Network claimed that the strike was carried out by an Israeli UAV.

This comes after the IAF killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a targeted strike in Beirut on Friday.

דיווח ברויטרס: תקיפה נוספת בביירות, ברובע אל-כולא, שאינו בדאחייה@kaisos1987 @Yoav__Zehavi pic.twitter.com/I9eA6pFppT

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) September 29, 2024

Details of the strike

KAN posted video footage of the aftermath of an explosion, with people crowding around the rubble. Sirens can be heard in the background.

Local Lebanese media sites and Al Jazeera referred to it as a targeted Israeli strike.

Al-Mayadeen reported that an unexploded missile was still in the targeted apartment in Beirut.

Israel has not yet confirmed any details.

Additionally, the IDF announced on Sunday night they were carrying out strikes on Hezbollah terror targets in the Bekaa region of southern Lebanon.

דיווח ברויטרס: תקיפה נוספת בביירות, ברובע אל-כולא, שאינו בדאחייה@kaisos1987 @Yoav__Zehavi pic.twitter.com/I9eA6pFppT

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) September 29, 2024

Many of Israel’s attacks have been carried out in the south of Lebanon, where most of Iran-backed Hezbollah’s operations occur, or in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Recent escalation

Lebanon’s Health Ministry has said more than 1,000 people have been killed and 6,000 wounded in the past two weeks, without saying how many were civilians. The government said a million people – a fifth of the population – have fled their homes.

Israel has vowed to keep up the assault and says it wants to make the North secure again for residents who have been forced to flee Hezbollah rocket attacks.

Israeli drones hovered over Beirut for much of Sunday, with the loud blasts of new airstrikes echoing around the Lebanese capital. Displaced families spent the night on benches at Zaitunay Bay, a string of restaurants, and cafes on Beirut’s waterfront.