The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted an airstrike on a Hezbollah commander in the group’s elite Radwan Force, the IDF said on September 10. Mohammad Qassem Al-Sha’a was targeted in the town of Qaraoun, around 30 miles north of the Israeli border. Hezbollah released an image of Al-Sha’a in the wake of his death. On September 11, Hezbollah announced the death of another of its members, bringing the group’s total losses to at least 435 members since it began its attacks on Israel in October 2023.
The deaths of two Hezbollah members in two days happened as the group continued to carry out rocket and missile attacks on northern Israel. On September 10, the Iranian-backed group fired 15 rockets at the Israeli community of Zarit on the border in northern Galilee. Shortly afterward, at around 4:30 pm, Hezbollah launched another 30 rockets at Sasa and Mount Meron. Hezbollah has targeted Meron in the past, claiming to fire at an IDF base located on the mountain.
Hezbollah followed up this barrage with a number of drone attacks on Israeli communities in the Huleh Valley. “Several suspicious aerial targets were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory. Some of the targets were intercepted. Fallen targets were identified in an area adjacent to Amiad. No injuries were reported,” the IDF said.
On September 11, Hezbollah increased its attacks, again launching rockets in the afternoon just after 4 pm. In this case, it targeted Abirim in the northern Galilee and Kfar Szold in the Huleh Valley with around 60 projectiles in a series of barrages. Just before sunset, the group launched more rockets at the communities of Matat and Hurfeish, a Druze village in northern Israel. In June, a Hezbollah drone attack on a field near Hurfeish being used by the IDF injured nine Israeli soldiers.
The Israel Defense Forces responded to the attacks with a series of air strikes and artillery fire missions. The Israeli Air Force struck 30 Hezbollah rocket launchers located in Jibbain, Naqoura, Deir Seryan, and Zibqin in southern Lebanon. In other rounds of airstrikes, the IDF hit more launchers in Maryamine, Rachaya Al Foukhar, and Mansouri and At Tiri, also in south Lebanon. In Rachaf, Nabaiteh, Mansouri, and Kfarkela, the IDF said it struck Hezbollah military structures, and it targeted a “Hezbollah weapons manufacturing facility” in Jouaiyya. A Hezbollah observation post was also destroyed in Kfarchouba.
Some of these villages have been targeted by the IDF in the past due to Hezbollah’s presence, although it appears from the list that several villages, such as Rachaf and Maryamine, have been in the line of fire infrequently over the last few months. The latest targeting could represent Hezbollah expanding its operations to new areas, or the IDF discovering terror infrastructure and launchers in these new areas.
While the IDF mainly relies on airstrikes in southern Lebanon, Israeli artillery also fired on Souaneh, Al-Dahira, and Ayta ash Shab, while mortars were launched at Naqoura, near the border on the Mediterranean Sea. The IDF released a relatively high-quality video of an alleged member of a Hezbollah “terrorist cell” in Houla in southern Lebanon. The IDF said it “will continue to operate against the threat of the Hezbollah terrorist organization in order to defend the State of Israel.”
The most significant airstrike in Lebanon was against Al-Sha’a, Hezbollah’s Radwan Force commander. Throughout the 11 months of clashes with the group, one of Israel’s key goals has been to reduce the presence of the Radwan Force, considered more experienced and a significant threat, near the border. The IDF said that Al-Sha’a’s death “further impairs the Hezbollah terrorist organization’s ability to promote and conduct terrorist activities from southern Lebanon against the Israeli Homefront on the northern border. “
Via statements to Iranian state media and the pro-Iranian al-Mayadeen media, Hezbollah claimed it had carried out numerous attacks on IDF positions in northern Israel on September 10 and 11. In one instance, an Al-Mayadeen correspondent said the outlet had confirmed a Hezbollah attack on the Israeli town of Metula. Metula is on the Lebanese border and has been attacked frequently by Hezbollah anti-tank missiles and other projectiles.
The IDF said that an Israeli reservist was wounded by anti-tank fire near the community of Dan in northern Israel. He was working as a community security guard. Many of these lightly armed security personnel have served as reservists during 11 months of war, allowing them to remain in their communities while receiving uniforms, arms, and benefits like other reservists.
