Hassan al-Laqqis, a commander of Shia group Hezbollah, has been shot dead outside his home near Beirut.

Little is publicly known about Laqqis but sources close to Hezbollah say he was a senior military commander with close ties to the group’s leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrullah.

Hezbollah issued a statement saying that Israel would “bear full responsibility and all the consequences for this heinous crime.”

Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor denied the accusation, saying “this has strictly nothing to do with Israel.”

A previously unknown group called Ahrar al-Sunna Baalbek claimed responsibility for the killing on Twitter.