A Lebanon security source quoted by Reuters said an Israeli strike targeted a building in one of the capital's most crowded districts on Sunday, killing Hezbollah's media relations chief Mohammad Afif, without immediate confirmation from Hezbollah.

The Israeli military did not give comments on the queries sent to Reuters regarding the strike. The region's evacuation order was not posted by the Israeli military spokesperson on social media platform X before the strike.

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The strike hit the Ras al-Nabaa neighborhood in which displaced people who had been pushed out of Beirut's southern suburb by the bombardments of Israel had been taking refuge.

Security sources said it hit a building where the offices of the Ba'ath Party are located, and the head of the party in Lebanon, Ali Hijazi, told Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed that Afif was in the building.

The broadcaster also later said Afif had been killed. It showed footage of a building whose upper floors had collapsed onto the first storey, with civil defence workers at the scene.

Afif was for many years a media advisor to Hezbollah's slain former secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli air attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut on Sept. 27.

He managed Hezbollah's Al-Manar television station for several years before taking over responsibility for the Iran-backed group's media relations office.

Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging artillery fire for more than a year, after Hezbollah unleashed rockets at Israeli military bases on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas launched a lethal attack on southern Israel.

It was in late September that Israel dramatically escalated and expanded its military campaign in Lebanon, heavily bombing the country's south, east, and the southern suburbs of Beirut alongside ground incursions along the border.

He has, however, held a number of press conferences in the southern suburbs of the capital amidst the rubble to journalists. He told reporters on Nov. 11 that Israeli troops have failed to occupy any territory in Lebanon, and that Hezbollah has enough weapons and supplies for a "long war".
The Lebanese health ministry said one person died and three were injured from the strike.

There were also distant ambulances rushing towards the scene along with bursts of gunfire designed to prevent crowds of people from approaching the location.