The Israel Defense Forces launched a wave of attacks on Thursday night on targets of the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Southern Lebanon, including its largest missile production site, the military confirmed.
“A short time ago, the IDF attacked infrastructure for the production and storage of strategic arms in the Beqaa region and Southern Lebanon,” it stated, accusing Hezbollah of rebuilding the sites in violation of the November truce understandings between Jerusalem and Beirut.
Among the targets struck were a site for producing explosives, as well as an underground facility for developing and storing strategic weapons.
“The IDF continues to act in order to protect the State of Israel,” it said.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that the military was “powerfully striking” Hezbollah terror infrastructure, including the Iranian-backed terrorist group’s “largest precision missile production site, which was previously attacked, along with additional sites Hezbollah is attempting to restore.
“As I emphasized, the maximum enforcement policy against Hezbollah will continue,” he said. “Any attempt by the terror group to rehabilitate, reestablish itself or threaten will be met with uncompromising force.”
The defense minister said Jerusalem would hold the official Lebanese government responsible for Hezbollah’s terrorism in the border area.
The Jewish state will not allow Hezbollah terrorists “to threaten the residents of the north and all citizens of Israel,” Katz stated.
On Nov. 26, Jerusalem and Beirut reached a ceasefire agreement aimed at ending more than a year of cross-border clashes between the IDF and Hezbollah. The terrorist organization began attacking the Jewish state in support of Hamas following the terror group’s attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Since the ceasefire, the IDF has carried out regular strikes to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its capabilities in violation of the deal.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem has rejected demands to disarm in line with the truce. Earlier this month, he warned that the terror group was “recovering and ready now” to confront the IDF.
Qassem stated on Wednesday that calls for his group to disarm served Israeli interests, following renewed international pressure on Tehran’s Lebanese proxy army.
“Anyone calling today for the surrender of weapons, whether internally or externally, on the Arab or the international stage, is serving the Israeli project,” AFP quoted the terrorist leader as saying in a televised address.
