Meitham Mustafa Altaar: Israel Defense Forces says key operative of Hezbollah's Aerial Defense Unit eliminated

"Meitham led many of the unit's activities and took part in the planning and carrying out of numerous terrorist attacks against Israelis. Meitham also flew to Iran multiple times, where he gained knowledge and assisted in building up Hezbollah’s force and arsenal of Iranian weapons," IDF posted on X.

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IDF said his elimination significantly harms the capabilities of Hezbollah's Aerial Defense Unit.

Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has said it launched 200 rockets at Israeli military sites in reply to the killing of one of its senior commanders, media reports said.

The Israeli Defense Force also confirmed the attack and posted on X: "Hezbollah fired massive barrages of projectiles toward northern Israel earlier today."

"Approx. 200 projectiles were launched toward the Golan area, some of which were intercepted by the IDF Aerial Defense Array and the IAF," IDF said.

"Over 20 suspicious aerial targets were launched toward Israeli territory, several were intercepted," it said.

IDF said it struck launch posts in southern Lebanon.

The IDF on Wednesday said top Hezbollah commander Muhammed Neamah Naser was 'eliminated'.

"ELIMINATED: Muhammad Neamah Naser, the Commander of the Aziz Unit in the Hezbollah Terrorist Organization," IDF posted on X.

" Naser entered his position in 2016 and led the rockets and anti-tank missile attacks from southwestern Lebanon toward Israeli civilians, communities and security forces. He also directed a large number of terrorist attacks toward Israel both during, and before the war, and he previously held several central roles within the Hezbollah terrorist organization," the army said.

"He was the counterpart of Sami Taleb Abdullah, the commander of the Nasser Unit, who was eliminated last month. Together, they served as two of the most significant Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon,"IDF said.

In response to the killing, Hezbollah on Thursday said it had launched “more than 200 missiles of various types” at Israeli targets, CNN reported.

Muhammad Neamah Naser is the latest Hezbollah leader to be killed since the October 7 attacks.

Cross-border firing incidents have been reported by Israel and Hezbollah since the war in Gaza began.

Amid escalating tension, a full-blown conflict is feared to occur.