BEIRUT – The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had struck a “key” figure from Palestinian militant group Hamas near the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, the first targeted killing in the area for several months.

In a statement later on Tuesday, the Israeli military named the targeted person as Mehran Mustafa Ba’jur. They described him as one of Hamas’ key commanders in Lebanon.

There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

Lebanese state media said a car had been hit near Tripoli and the Health Ministry put the latest death toll at three people, without identifying them. Thirteen people were injured in the attack, according to the ministry.

Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups maintain a presence in various areas of Lebanon, mostly in camps that have housed displaced Palestinians for decades.

Since Hamas’ cross-border attack from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel in October 2023, Israel has carried out targeted strikes on Lebanese armed group Hezbollah as well as members of Palestinian factions in Lebanon.

Hamas’ deputy chief was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs in early 2024, and other strikes hit Palestinian camps in northern Lebanon.

A U.S.-brokered ceasefire last year ended the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, though Israel has continued to carry out strikes on what it says are Hezbollah arms depots and fighters, mostly in southern Lebanon.

Tuesday’s strike near Tripoli was the first time a targeted assassination had taken place in the area since the truce.

Meanwhile, U.S. envoy Thomas Barrack continued a two-day visit to Lebanon to discuss disarming Hezbollah and other militant groups.

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(Reporting by Maya Gebeily and Laila Bassam in Beirut; additional reporting by Menna Alaa El-Din and Ahmed Elimam; editing by Sharon Singleton, Mark Heinrich and Sandra Maler)