Residents of Beirut reported three days of heavy and increasing airstrikes in the city. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) put out statements in Arabic calling on civilians to leave numerous areas in southern Beirut, including in the neighborhoods of Ghobeiry and Dahieh. The IDF also said in a briefing on November 14 that it estimates 2,250 Hezbollah operatives have been eliminated in fighting in southern Lebanon since October 1. Other Hezbollah members have been killed in Beirut and other localities in Lebanon, although the IDF did not provide an estimate of how many were killed outside of southern Lebanon.
On November 14, the Israeli military said it conducted “a series of intelligence-based strikes on Hezbollah weapons storage facilities, command centers, and additional terrorist infrastructure sites in the Dahieh area.” Around 30 targets were struck between November 13 and November 14. On November 15, the Israeli military said it hit another 120 targets throughout Lebanon over the last day. Targets included “weapons storage facilities, command centers, terrorist cells, and a large quantity of launchers, including some that fired rockets yesterday toward Haifa and the Upper Galilee area.”
The IDF appears to be shifting some focus towards targeting Hezbollah’s rocket launchers. In addition, Israeli troops found rocket launchers in southern Lebanon, some of them primed and ready to be fired. Images of weapons “found by troops of the Golani Brigade” show two launchers capable of firing a salvo of 24 rockets at a time. The weapons found in the south are short-range launchers, in contrast to the longer-range salvos Hezbollah has been firing at areas near the Israeli city of Haifa, around 20 miles south of the border. “Over the past week, the IAF [Israeli Air Force] struck and dismantled over 140 Hezbollah launchers in southern Lebanon. These launchers posed an immediate threat to Israeli civilians and IDF troops operating in southern Lebanon,” the IDF said on November 15. The Israeli military’s renewed focus on launchers includes targeting those recently used to fire at northern and central Israel.
In another statement on November 15, the IDF added that “over the past day, the IAF struck and dismantled a rockets stockpile and 15 launchers in southern Lebanon, some of which were ready to fire missiles and rockets toward Israeli civilians. Among them was the launcher used to fire projectiles toward central Israel on Wednesday.” The IDF’s numerous statements on the issue illustrate a shift in tactics and targets, though it is unclear if this new focus will continue. The IDF had moved to target Hezbollah’s financial centers in October for several days but appeared to abruptly end that campaign.
Hezbollah has launched 16,000 rockets, missiles, and drones at Israel since October 8, 2023, the IDF said in a briefing on November 15. By mid-August, Hezbollah had launched 7,500, indicating that the volume of Hezbollah rocket fire increased significantly after the IDF began Operation Northern Arrows on September 23. However, Hezbollah’s rocket and drone attacks have decreased since November 12 to around 50 projectiles crossing the border each day.
In other operations in southern Lebanon, Israel continued to eliminate local Hezbollah commanders. One of those killed was a member of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Unit in southwestern Lebanon. “Over the past week, the IDF eliminated over 200 Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon from the air and ground,” Israel’s military said. Another series of precision strikes targeted Radwan command centers in Nabatieh, a city in the hills of southern Lebanon around 10 miles from the coast.
The Israeli military also provided an update on the operations of the Commando Brigade. This unit is part of the 98th Division, one of the first units to operate in Lebanon when the ground offensive began. The commandos had previously spent most of the year fighting in Gaza. The brigade includes various elite forces, such as the Egoz, Maglan, and Duvdevan units. Egoz was originally part of Israel’s Golani Brigade and had been tasked with counter-guerilla operations in southern Lebanon in the 1990s before Israel withdrew. It is now back in the terrain where it was first developed.
The IDF said the Commando Brigade has been “operating in thicketed, mountainous terrain in ‘combat compounds’ pre-designated by Hezbollah for its attacks. Some of the compounds are embedded within villages from which the Hezbollah terrorist organization has directed numerous rocket barrages toward Israeli communities.” In late October, the 98th Division fought to clear Hezbollah threats near the Ramim ridge above the Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona. It is unclear if the unit is fighting in the same area now, as the IDF does not release many details about where its brigades operate.
