IDF launches wave of strikes against Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces launched a wave of strikes against Hezbollah terrorist targets in Lebanon on Thursday evening.

“The IDF has begun a wave of strikes targeting military sites of the terrorist organization Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon,” it stated.

The strikes began around an hour after the Israeli military had called on residents of several buildings in the areas of Mays al-Jabal, Kfar Tebnit and Dibbin in Southern Lebanon to evacuate for their own safety.

“You are located in buildings used by the Hezbollah terrorist group. For your safety, you are required to evacuate these structures and adjacent buildings immediately and stay away from them for a distance of at least 500 meters,” Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, head of the Arab Media Branch in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, stated.

The Upper Galilee Regional Council, in a message to residents, said that there was no change in the civilian defense guidelines for the northern region.

“A large-scale attack in Lebanon will begin in the coming hours. Explosions will be heard in the Galilee and Golan Heights,” it said.

According to the IDF, the attacks targeted arms storage facilities used by Hezbollah’s Radwan Force, which for years trained to invade Israel and seize communities under a plan known as the “Galilee invasion.”

“The Hezbollah terrorist organization continues its attempts to rebuild terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon, with a focus on the Radwan Force unit, aiming to harm the State of Israel,” it said.

The assets were “located in the heart of the civilian population,” the military said, calling it “another example of the cynical use by the Hezbollah terror group of Lebanese civilians as human shields.”

Earlier on Thursday, the IDF announced that it had eliminated a senior Hezbollah weapons dealer in Baalbek, northeast of Beirut, in Lebanon.

Hussein Saifo Sharif directed terrorists in Syrian territory to plan attacks against the state of Israel, according to the IDF statement.

Such activities “constitute a blatant violation of the understanding between Israel and Lebanon,” the IDF stressed, referring to the ceasefire agreement of Nov. 27, 2024, that ended over a year of fighting between the IDF and Hezbollah.

The IDF added that it will “continue to operate to remove any threat to the State of Israel.”

The Israeli military on Monday night struck a Hezbollah headquarters in the Nabatieh area of Southern Lebanon. Earlier in the day, the IDF eliminated a Hezbollah terrorist in the area of Yater, located in Southern Lebanon, some two miles from the border.

On Sunday, the IDF killed a Hezbollah terrorist involved in weapons development and production in the Nabatieh region. According to the military, Muhammad Ali Yassin was working to rebuild the Iranian-backed terror group’s capabilities in Southern Lebanon.

The situation in Lebanon remains volatile following the end of the truce with Beirut on Feb. 18. Hezbollah began attacks on the Jewish state a day after the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023.

Although Jerusalem has withdrawn most of its ground forces since the war ended, it still controls five strategic positions in Southern Lebanon. Israeli officials have stated that the IDF will retain control of these areas until the Lebanese army demonstrates it can maintain security there.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi said last week that the country’s armed forces will have fully disarmed Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon within three months.