Israel Claims Killing of Hezbollah Regional Air Force Commander in Drone Attack

IDF spokesman Laksda Daniel Badhi (leftmost) with a number of IDF officials. (Wikimedia Commons/IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

JAKARTA - Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had killed a regional commander of the Hezbollah air force who was claimed responsibility for the attack on the Israeli command center on Tuesday morning.

In a statement, the IDF said a figure named Ali Hussein Burji led the South Lebanese Region's Hezbollah Air Unit and "leaded dozens of activities against Israel using explosive UAVs and reconnaissance UAVs against Israeli soldiers and the IDF".

"Before its destruction, the launch cell belonging to the Hezbollah Air Unit on its way to launch an explosive UAV to various locations in Israel was culled," the statement said.

Meanwhile, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Badhi said in his regular press conference, "we eliminated it (Burji) by drone."

Separately, the Hezbollah Group also announced Burji's death on its social media channels. However, they denied he was responsible for Hezbollah's drone or air force program.

"Hezbollah's press office vehemently denies this false and baseless claim, asserting that the mujahid brothers responsible for the Hezbollah drone were not the target of assassination attempts," Hezbollah said in a statement late Tuesday.