Who was Khalil Maqdah, the senior Fatah commander assassinated by Israeli strike on Lebanon?

Israel has escalated regional tensions this week with an airstrike on Lebanon's coastal city of Sidon, targeting Khalil al-Maqdah, a senior commander in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades — the armed wing of Palestinian faction Fatah, and brother of Munir al-Maqdah, a senior figure within the group.

The assassination, the first of a Fatah leader since the October 2023 Gaza war and Hezbollah-Israel clashes, sends a clear message that all Palestinian factions are seen as legitimate targets, regardless of their stance or location, and signals a possible expansion of Israeli operations in Lebanon.

In a statement released on Wednesday shortly after the strike, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades confirmed al-Maqdah's death, describing him as "one of the leaders of the military council in the West Bank, one of the most prominent innovators and planners of the launch of the Brigades in the West Bank... at a time when many Fatah leaders have abandoned the sons of the Brigades in the West Bank".

Al-Maqdah reportedly played a crucial logistical and operational role in Palestinian resistance efforts, facilitating coordination between factions in Lebanon and the West Bank.

He had strong ties to his brother, Munir al-Maqdah, another key figure in the Palestinian armed struggle, especially in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp.

The brothers had regained control of the Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon after Fatah had lost authority there in 1993 following the signing of the Oslo Accords.

Since 7 October, the al-Maqdah brothers received Hamas delegations on several occasions in the camp, where they are based.

They also play a central role in attempts to bring the two rival Palestinian movements closer together, both in Lebanon and abroad.

Israel says that both brothers were involved in financially and logistically supporting Palestinian fighters in the West Bank.

Munir, who heads the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Lebanon, was accused by Israel in March of orchestrating the movement of arms from Iran into the occupied West Bank, with Israel claiming to have seized several of these modern weapons.

Lamis Andoni, a Palestinian journalist, writer, and academic who led the launch of The New Arab as editor-in-chief, told TNA that Khalil's assassination served as "a message to Fatah and other factions in Lebanon", warning them against collaboration with Hezbollah — as other Palestinian groups had, launching attacks on northern Israel from Lebanese soil.

Andoni added that the latest assassination served as a message to Palestinian groups that "in Israel's eyes, all Palestinian groups are viewed under the same lens" in its indiscriminate campaign of aggression.

Shortly following the announcement of his brother's death, Mounir said in a televised interview that "assassinations make us stronger and his [Khalil's] death was on the path to freeing al-Aqsa and this martyrdom is a badge of honour for all the resistance axes and after ten months the resistance is still steadfast on the ground".

"God willing, may the blood of the martyrs be a sword on the neck of this occupying government and the settlers until the end [of their presence] from all of Palestine," he added.