BEIRUT/GAZA — Senior Hamas official Hassan Farhat and two of his children were killed early Friday morning in an Israeli drone strike targeting an apartment in the city of Sidon in southern Lebanon, according to a Lebanese security source and Lebanon's Al Jadeed TV channel.

Meanwhile, Israel announced the launch of a new ground offensive in Gaza City on Friday, with rescuers saying military operations had killed at least 30 people across the Palestinian territory since dawn. They said the toll was "not final".

A Lebanese security official told Xinhua that "an Israeli drone fired two air-to-ground missiles at an apartment in the Al-Zahraa neighborhood in central Sidon, where the Hamas leader Hassan Farhat was residing".

Civil Defense personnel extinguished the blaze, while a Lebanese Red Cross ambulance transported the bodies to a hospital, said the report.

The Israeli military said the targeted militant was behind a rocket attack on Safed last year that killed and wounded several Israeli soldiers. It vowed to act against Hamas fighters.

Hamas' military wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, confirmed in a statement released in Gaza that Farhat had been killed in the strike.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the strike as a "flagrant attack on Lebanese sovereignty" and a breach of the truce with Israel.

Despite a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel that began on Nov 27, 2024, the Israeli military has occasionally carried out strikes in Lebanon, claiming they were aimed at neutralizing "Hezbollah threats".

Israel also maintained a military presence at five key points along the Lebanese border, even after a deadline for a full withdrawal passed on Feb 18.

In Gaza City, the Israeli military said, ground troops had begun conducting operations in the Shujaiya area "in order to expand the security zone".

Agencies-Xinhua