The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday killed Hezbollah terrorist Mahmoud Ali Issa in the Deir Aames area of Southern Lebanon’s Tyre District.
Issa served as Hezbollah’s representative in the nearby Kara area, where he was responsible for managing the Iranian proxy’s financial and military ties with local residents.
According to the IDF, Issa also worked to seize private property for operational purposes, including renting homes to store weapons and conduct surveillance.
Also on Tuesday, the Israeli military killed an unnamed Hezbollah terrorist operating an engineering vehicle in the Zibqin area of Southern Lebanon. The operative was targeted while attempting to rebuild terror infrastructure sites.
The IDF on Monday struck several Hezbollah targets in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, including military compounds belonging to the terror group’s elite Radwan Force. The facilities hosted live-fire exercises and weapons training for Hezbollah operatives.
Also on Monday, the IDF killed Hasan Ali Jamil Atwi, a senior operative in Hezbollah’s Aerial Defense Unit, in the Nabatieh area. Atwi played a key role in rebuilding and rearming the unit and served as a major source of operational expertise, according to the IDF. He also maintained contact with the unit’s leaders in Iran and was involved in procuring equipment for Hezbollah.
“The terrorists’ activities constituted violations of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” the IDF said, referring to the Nov. 27, 2024, ceasefire deal that ended more than a year of war.
The situation in Lebanon remains volatile following the end of the truce on Feb. 18. Hezbollah began launching missiles and drones at the Jewish state a day after the Hamas-led massacre on Oct. 7, 2023.
Although Jerusalem has withdrawn most of its ground forces since the war ended, it still controls five strategic sites in Southern Lebanon. Israeli officials have stated that the IDF will retain these positions until the Lebanese army demonstrates it can maintain security.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi said on Sept. 9 that the country’s armed forces will have fully disarmed Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon within three months.
Last month, Naim Qassem, the secretary-general of the Iranian proxy, said that Hezbollah will not lay down its arms, in a public show of defiance against the Lebanese army’s plan.
In response, U.S. President Donald Trump has reportedly approved $230 million in funding for Lebanon’s security forces. The package includes $190 million for the Lebanese Armed Forces and $40 million for the Internal Security Forces.
In an email, a State Department spokesperson said the assistance would support the effort “to assert Lebanese sovereignty across the country and fully implement U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, the only viable framework for a durable security arrangement for both Lebanese and Israelis.”
The U.N. resolution, adopted in the aftermath of the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, calls for the terror proxy to disarm and withdraw from Southern Lebanon, with the Lebanese army and the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) tasked with securing the area.
