The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday killed a terrorist from Hezbollah’s elite Radwan commando force who operated in the Deir Seryan area in southeastern Lebanon, the military said.
On Wednesday night, the IDF said that it struck Hezbollah weapons depots, a rocket launcher and other terrorist infrastructure in Southern Lebanon.
The terrorists’ actions and the presence of such assets in the country’s south constitute “a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” the IDF stated.
Earlier on Wednesday, United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon troops uncovered a 164-foot Hezbollah tunnel near Al Qusayr, along with unexploded ordnance. The matter was turned over to the Lebanese Armed Forces, according to UNIFIL.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has formally informed U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Israel seeks the immediate termination of UNIFIL’s mandate.
In a recent letter, Sa’ar said that UNIFIL has failed in its core mission, pointing to Iranian-backed Hezbollah’s continued terrorist buildup since the 2006 Second Lebanon War.
Last Friday, the IDF attacked Hezbollah targets above and below ground in the Beaufort Ridge area of Southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh district.
Two days earlier, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said that there had been a “profound shift” in Israel’s national security concept in the aftermath of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.
During a tour of Southern Lebanon, where the IDF has maintained a limited deployment since a ceasefire agreement in November 2024 ended a year of fighting, Zamir said that Israel’s policy was “no longer containment and waiting, but the use of force in pursuit of contact.”
The five outposts are located at a hill near Labbouneh, opposite the Israeli border town of Shlomi; on the Jabal Blat peak, opposite Moshav Zar’it; on a hill opposite Moshav Avivim and Kibbutz Malkia; on a hill opposite Moshav Margaliot; and on a hill opposite the town of Metula.
There is also a new guiding principle among Israel’s security forces “that neutralizing the threat also requires striking at its sources,” said Zamir.
Israel’s counter-terrorism operations in Lebanon come as Beirut continues efforts to remove weapons from non-state actors, primarily Hezbollah. The process was prompted by U.S. demands for the Lebanese government to disarm the Iranian terrorist proxy.
Hezbollah began launching missiles and drones into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, the day after Hamas’s invasion of the country’s south.
The Lebanese terrorist group was severely weakened during the subsequent war with Israel, with its leadership and arsenal suffering significant losses.
