The Israel Defense Forces struck infrastructure of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization in the Baalbek area of Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley on Thursday.
The strike targeted Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, which for years trained to invade Israel’s north and seize communities under a plan known as the “Galilee invasion,” and on which Hamas modeled its cross-border invasion from Gaza to massacre 1,200 people in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
In a subsequent statement, the IDF confirmed that it had struck eight Radwan Force compounds that were used to “store weapons, train terrorists and plan attacks against IDF troops and Israeli civilians.”
“Hezbollah’s attempts to rearm constitute a violation of the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” the military added.
Jerusalem has warned Lebanon via intermediaries that it could launch heavy airstrikes on its territory, including against civilian infrastructure such as the Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport, if Hezbollah enters a war between the United States and Iran, two senior Lebanese officials told Reuters on Tuesday.
Lebanon’s government has pledged to disarm Hezbollah following a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal in November 2024 that ended the fighting that began when the terror group joined Hamas’s war against Israel on Oct. 8, 2023.
Hezbollah has recently stepped up military and security meetings as it braces for another battle against the Jewish state, according to a report by the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya network.
Unnamed sources close to the Lebanese terrorist group told the Saudi network earlier this week that Hezbollah is effectively being run by officers from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
On Wednesday, the IDF announced that Israeli soldiers stationed in Southern Lebanon located and dismantled Hezbollah weapons, observation posts and firing positions in recent months.
The IDF said that its actions were aimed at preventing the terrorist group from rearming in violation of the truce deal with Jerusalem.
