Hamas says Israeli strike on Lebanon killed commander, family

Palestinian militant group Hamas said an Israeli strike killed one of its commanders and his family in a refugee camp in north Lebanon today, the first time the area had been hit in the current flare-up.

"Commander" Saeed Attallah Ali, his wife and two daughters were killed in "Zionist bombardment of his house in the Beddawi camp" near the northern city of Tripoli, it said.

Israel has repeatedly targeted Hamas officials in Lebanon since the Gaza war erupted almost a year ago.

Hamas has announced the deaths of at least 18 of its militants in Lebanon since then.

The group said an air strike on Monday killed its leader in Lebanon Fatah Sharif Abu al-Amine in his home in the Al-Bass camp in south Lebanon.

In August, an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the south Lebanon city of Sidon killed Hamas commander Samer al-Hajj.

A strike in January, which a US defence official said was carried out by Israel, killed Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Aruri and six other militants in Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold.

Lebanon's dozen Palestinian refugee camps were created for those who were driven out or fled during the 1948 war that accompanied Israel's creation.

By longstanding convention, the Lebanese army stays out of the camps and leaves the Palestinian factions to handle security.