On Friday, the Israeli military said it had carried out an airstrike in southern Lebanon resulting in the death of Hezbollah's deputy commander.

Ali Abed Akhsan Naim, the deputy commander of Hezbollah's rocket and missile unit, was killed in an IDF drone strike that targeted the car he was traveling in, in the town of Bazouriye.

Naim was “considered to be a significant source of knowledge in the terror group and leader in the field of rockets,” said Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in a statement.

The IDF added that Naim was one of the Iranian regime-backed militia's leaders in heavy warhead rocket fire and was responsible for conducting and planning attacks against Israeli civilians.

Hezbollah had announced Naim’s death earlier in the day but had not mentioned he was a high-ranking commander.

Separately, Israeli strikes on the northern Syrian city of Aleppo earlier on Friday killed 38 people – including five members of Hezbollah.

It reportedly marked the deadliest attacks so far in an intensified Israeli campaign against Iran's allies in Syria.

Following Hamas’ deadly incursion into Israel on October 7th, Israel has stepped up its airstrikes on both Hezbollah and the Iranian regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s positions in Syria

Tehran and its proxies have established strongholds across Syria, including in areas around Aleppo and the capital Damascus.