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IDF, Shin Bet kill top Quds Force operative in Lebanon

Israeli security forces say the target was involved in Iranian-directed terror plots against Israel in the Syria-Lebanon arena.

Smoke after a blast in the village of Yaroun in Southern Lebanon's Nabatieh Governorate, as seen from Moshav Avivim in Israel, Dec. 17, 2024. Photo by Ayal Margolin/Flash90.
Smoke after a blast in the village of Yaroun in Southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh Governorate, as seen from Moshav Avivim in Israel, Dec. 17, 2024. Photo by Ayal Margolin/Flash90.

The Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) said they carried out a joint operation Thursday in the Nabatieh area of southern Lebanon, eliminating a senior operative in Iran’s Quds Force.

According to a statement issued by the IDF and Shin Bet, the target—Hussein Mahmoud Marashd al-Jawhari—was a key terrorist in Unit 840, the Quds Force’s operations unit, and had been involved in recent years in advancing Iranian-directed terror plots against Israel in the Syria-Lebanon arena.

The military said al-Jawhari operated under Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and was involved in terrorist activity, directed by Iran, against the State of Israel and its security forces.

Unit 840, headed by Asghar Bagheri and his deputy, Mohammad Reza Ansari, is responsible for directing Iranian terrorist operations against Israel, the statement said.

“The IDF and ISA view with great severity any attempt by the Iranian regime and its proxies to advance terror plans, and will continue to operate in order to remove any threat against the State of Israel,” it added.

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