Israel Accuses Fatah Commander of Orchestrating West Bank Attacks, Fatah Denies
In a move that has sparked tensions in the region, Israel claimed responsibility for the killing of Khalil Maqdah, a senior commander of the Palestinian movement Fatah, in a missile strike in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon on Wednesday. According to Israeli military reports, Maqdah was the brother of Mounir Maqdah, who heads the Lebanese branch of Fatah’s armed wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, and was accused of directing terror attacks and smuggling weapons to the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military alleged that Maqdah collaborated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and that the attack was carried out to prevent further attacks in the West Bank. However, Fatah denied the allegations, accusing Israel of seeking to “ignite a regional war”.
Maqdah was killed in a strike on his car, according to Fatah and a Lebanese security source. The group described him as “one of the leaders” of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in Lebanon and said he played a central role in supporting the Palestinian people and resistance during the Gaza war and in supporting resistance cells in the West Bank.
The killing marks the first reported attack on a senior member of Fatah in over 10 months of cross-border clashes between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement following the Gaza war. Fatah has not announced any attacks on Israel from Lebanon since the clashes began, nor has it mourned members killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon.
Hezbollah and its allies have exchanged regular fire with Israel in support of its ally Hamas since the Palestinian militant group’s October 7 attack on Israel sparked the Gaza war. The violence has killed over 593 people in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah fighters but also including at least 130 civilians, according to AFP’s tally.
Fatah controls the Palestinian Authority, which has partial administrative control in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The group has been bitter rivals with Hamas since Hamas fighters ejected Fatah from the Gaza Strip after deadly clashes that followed Hamas’s resounding victory in a 2006 election.
Dozens of angry Fatah supporters gathered inside the Ain al-Helweh camp, where the attack occurred, and fired gunshots in the air in response to the killing. The event has raised concerns about the potential for a larger conflict in the region.
