Hezbollah has denied that a man in charge of Hezbollah’s drones in the south was killed in an Israeli airstrike Tuesday.

After Israel claimed it killed Ali Hussein Barji, who it said was in charge of Hezbollah’s drones in the south, Hezbollah denied the claim and an official said Barji was only a fighter.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Tuesday accused the Hezbollah-led “Axis of Defiance” in Lebanon of linking the Lebanese presidency and the new government to “ongoing negotiations” with Western forces over the military situation in south Lebanon.

“This matter is totally rejected, seeing as the presidency will not be a consolation prize for the Axis of Resistance and will not be part of any deal whatsoever,” Geagea said.

Hezbollah field commander Wissam Tawil, a top Hezbollah commander, was buried in his south Lebanon village of Kherbet Selem on Tuesday.

He was the highest-ranking Hezbollah member to be killed since October 7.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Tuesday noted that “the daily Israeli escalation is targeting the depth of residential areas, civilians and even ambulances and journalists.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will press Israel during his visit on Tuesday to officially declare the start of the so-called low-intensity third phase of its war on Gaza, media reports said.

Hezbollah number two Naim Qassem in a speech Tuesday warned that Israel's wave of targeted killings "cannot lead to a phase of retreat but rather to a push forward for the resistance".

He described Hezbollah field commander Wissam Tawil - who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his car on Monday - as a member of Hezbollah's elite al-Radwan Brigade who had fought on several fronts.

U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein will meet with Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab in a European capital prior to his upcoming visit to Lebanon, senior political sources said.

“Phone communication between them is ongoing and they had recently met in Dubai,” the sources told al-Akhbar newspaper in remarks published Tuesday.

Hezbollah said it targeted a command base in Israel Tuesday in retaliation for the killings of one of its commanders in Lebanon and the Hamas deputy leader.

The movement said it targeted the "enemy's northern command centre" in the city of Safad with several explosive drones as part of its response to the killing of Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri on January 2 and Hezbollah field commander Wissam Tawil on Monday.

The elite Hezbollah commander who was killed in an Israeli airstrike Monday in southern Lebanon fought for the group for decades and took part in some of its biggest battles.

Wissam al-Tawil, a 48-year-old commander in Hezbollah's secretive Radwan Force deployed along the border with Israel, was killed when the strike hit his SUV in his hometown of Khirbet Silem. The strike was about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border, beyond the villages and towns that have witnessed the two sides exchange fire over the past three months.

Hamas and Iran have condemned the killing of top Hezbollah commander Wissam Tawil in a strike on south Lebanon.

Tawil "had a leading role in managing Hezbollah's operations in the south", near the Israeli border.