Israeli FM confirms assassination of senior Hezbollah commander

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz confirmed on Monday evening that Israel was behind the assassination of an elite Hezbollah commander, Wissam Hassan Tawil, in Lebanon, reported Israeli media.

"Regarding the elimination in southern Lebanon, we took responsibility for it," Katz said, cited by Israel's Ynet news website. The minister said the killing was part of the ongoing conflicts on the Israel-Lebanon border.

This was the first time that an Israeli official confirmed that Israel had perpetrated the airstrike on Monday, killing Tawil, 48, commander of Hezbollah's Radwan Force, in his hometown of Khirbet Silem, some 10 km from the border.

Confrontations on the Lebanon-Israel border intensified on Monday, with Israel targeting several Lebanese villages that include Marwahin and Aita al-Shaab. At the same time, Hezbollah announced that its fighters struck the Israeli Ya'ara Barracks.

The confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel have killed 209 on the Lebanese side, including 154 Hezbollah members and 35 civilians, according to Lebanese security sources.