BEIRUT: The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said on Wednesday that one of its senior commanders, Hassan al-Laqis, was shot dead outside his house as he was returning from work in the Hadath district of Beirut.
The militant group alleged that Israel was involved behind the killing of Hassan al-Laqis whom it described as one of the founding members of the group.
Hezbollah also threatened that Israel will face all the consequences of this heinous crime.
“Direct accusation is aimed of course against the Israeli enemy which had tried to eliminate our martyred brother again and again and in several places but had failed, until yesterday evening,” Hezbollah said in the statement.
“This enemy must bear full responsibility for and all the consequences of this heinous crime,” it added.
However, Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor denied the accusation and said that “Israel has nothing to do with this incident.”
“These automatic accusations are an innate reflex with Hezbollah. They don’t need evidence, they don’t need facts, they just blame anything on Israel,” Palmor said.
The Lebanese security officials said that a group of assailants opened fire on Hassan al-Laqis overnight while he was in his car, parked at the residential building where he lived in the Hadath neighborhood.
Hassan al-Laqis was rushed to a nearby hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries early Wednesday.
