Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander in a strike on south Lebanon on Monday. Hezbollah announced the killing of a “commander” named Wissam Hassan Tawil. A security source said Tawil “had a leading role in managing Hezbollah’s operations in the south.” The Israeli military did not comment on Tawil’s death, but the strike targeted Hezbollah military sites. Tawil was the highest-ranking Hezbollah member to be killed since near-daily exchanges of fire across the border began after Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7. Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, said Tawil was also involved in the abduction of Israeli soldiers. Tawil had been linked to the abduction of Israeli soldiers that triggered the group’s last war with Israel in 2006, as well as specific operations in Syria and numerous operations against Israeli forces since the Gaza war began. Hamas expressed condolences for Tawil, who was supporting Gaza, and Iran condemned Israel’s actions as “blatant terrorist operations.” The killing of Hamas’s deputy leader in Beirut last week, in a missile strike attributed to Israel, has raised fears of a wider conflagration. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell met in Beirut with Mohammed Raad, head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, as part of a push to avoid Lebanon being dragged into the Israel-Hamas conflict. The cross-border violence has killed more than 180 people in Lebanon, and in northern Israel, nine soldiers and at least four civilians have been killed.