Four Israel Defense Forces (IDF) divisions continued operations in southern Lebanon between October 27 and 29. The IDF found one Hezbollah facility that was 24 feet underground, while another stretched for more than a mile underground and “included food supplies, beds, storage cabinets, electrical power, and an arsenal of weapons.” The IDF also captured several Hezbollah members, including the commander of a local village.
Hezbollah rocket fire struck a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) compound in Naqoura, Lebanon, wounding eight Austrian peacekeepers.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) completed an operation in the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya. During the raid, the Israeli military found weapons and detained 100 suspected terrorists. This is the third time the IDF has operated in Jabaliya to clear it of terrorists, and the second time it has raided the hospital and detained suspected militants.
Hezbollah launched a barrage of 50 rockets at northern Israel on October 24, targeting Israeli communities during the Simchat Torah holiday, after launching an estimated 135 projectiles into Israel the day before. On October 22, a total of 140 projectiles were launched. Israelis were injured in rocket attacks on October 23 and October 24. The IDF carried out airstrikes in Tyre and Beirut, and Israeli troops in southern Lebanon uncovered large amounts of Hezbollah weapons, including rifles, RPGs, mortars, and anti-tank missiles.
A specious argument fueled by DC-based Lebanese activists is gaining traction. It alleges that UN Security Council Resolution 1559 (2004) takes a stronger stance against Hezbollah than its successor, Resolution 1701, adopted after the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War. This entire argument, however, rests on misinterpretations of Resolution 1701’s meaning and intent and demonstrates ignorance of international law.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began waves of strikes on a financial organization it states has branches across Lebanon and is used to fund Hezbollah’s terror activities. An Israeli military assessment reports the IDF has hit 3,200 Hezbollah targets and killed seven of the group’s brigade commanders and 21 of its battalion commanders since the operation in Lebanon began almost a month ago.
Israeli ground forces and aircraft struck hundreds of Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in three days of operations from October 14 to October 17. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) estimates that 45 Hezbollah members were eliminated on October 17. Israeli ground forces also uncovered tunnels and numerous weapons and captured Hezbollah personnel in recent operations.
The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel that began on October 8, 2023, has evolved into a protracted war of attrition that neither side initially expected to last this long. Hezbollah’s goal was to support Gaza by diverting the Israelis’ attention and impacting their morale, but the group miscalculated Israel’s resolve, leading to an extended and more intense conflict.
A Hezbollah kamikaze drone struck an IDF training base, killing four soldiers and wounding 60 others. Hezbollah has used more than 200 drones in attacks over the past year. IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi visited the site of the attack, and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, “We must investigate it, study the details, and implement lessons in a swift and professional manner.” Gallant also spoke with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and visited northern Israel to oversee operations against Hezbollah.
IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi visited Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon on October 10. He reviewed how the IDF is operating against Hezbollah in Lebanese villages near the border from where Hezbollah has threatened Israel with rockets over the past year. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said on October 11 that two of its peacekeepers were wounded in Lebanon. Hezbollah fired 190 projectiles into Israel on October 10.
Israel announced that it killed Hashem Safieddine, the likely successor to Hezbollah’s longtime Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. Safieddine was a veteran Hezbollah leader, and the group has suffered significant losses to its leadership cadre.
Hezbollah targeted Israel’s northern city of Haifa with rocket fire on October 8 after launching 190 rockets at Israel on October 7. The IDF continued to carry out operations in southern Lebanon. Israel’s Golani Brigade uncovered Hezbollah weapons in Maroun al-Ras. The IDF also dismantled a tunnel that stretched into Israel. Four IDF divisions are now operating in Lebanon.
The Israeli military suffered its first casualties in southern Lebanon battles with Hezbollah on October 2. Eight soldiers were killed in one incident and a ninth in a second clash, according to Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reports from October 2 and October 3. The IDF struck approximately 200 Hezbollah targets and estimated it eliminated 60 of the group’s members. During the same two days, Hezbollah launched 360 projectiles at Israel. In addition, the IDF downed several drone threats off the coast. Two Israeli divisions, the 98th and the 36th, are now operating in southern Lebanon.
A breakdown of the Hezbollah officials Israel has assassinated, those who remain, and the impact on the organization and its durability.
The Israel Defense (IDF) Forces began a ground operation in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah, led by the IDF’s 98th Division. The IDF described the offensive as “localized, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon.” Iran launched 180 ballistic missiles at Israel, while Hezbollah fired rocket barrages at northern and central Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) called up two reserve brigades as Operation Northern Arrows entered its third day. The Israeli Air Force continued to conduct strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. In addition, Major General Ori Gordin, head of the IDF’s Northern Command, spoke to Israel’s 7th Armored Brigade and urged them to be ready for possible ground operations in the north. Hezbollah launched a ballistic missile toward Tel Aviv and struck Safed and other areas in northern Israel.
The Israeli Air Force struck 1,300 Hezbollah targets with 1,400 munitions on September 23. The strikes were the largest since Hezbollah began its attacks on Israel in October 2023. Hezbollah launched long-range rockets at Israel, targeting Haifa and areas close to central Israel for the first time in 11 months. Israel’s Defense Minister said “tens of thousands of rockets have been destroyed” in the IDF strikes on Hezbollah, decreasing the Iranian-backed terrorist group’s arsenal.
The Israel Defense Forces launched wide-ranging airstrikes on Hezbollah after previously carrying out a strike in Beirut that eliminated 16 of the group’s top commanders. More than 150 Israel Air Force warplanes participated in the attacks, and Hezbollah launched more than 150 rockets, missiles, and drones at Israel during roughly the same period.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah’s speech on Thursday afternoon was a difficult exercise in damage control after Israel’s attacks on September 17 and 18.
After a week of exploding pagers and radios, Israel carried out a significant and successful strike targeting Hezbollah military leaders in Beirut.
Pagers assigned to members of the Lebanese group exploded on September 17, injuring more than 2,500 people and causing an undetermined number of deaths. A significant Israeli assault that has potentially injured thousands of Hezbollah fighters is unlikely to go unanswered.
Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets at Israel in several barrages on September 10 and 11. The IDF responded with strikes on numerous locations in southern Lebanon, targeting terrorist infrastructure and killing two Hezbollah members, including a commander in the group’s Radwan force. An IDF reservist was wounded by an anti-tank missile.
An Israeli reserve brigade completed an exercise to prepare for conflict in the north. Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at Israel on September 8, and the group claimed to be responding to an IDF strike on a village in southern Lebanon. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi visited northern Israel and met with the commander of an IDF division in the Golan on September 6.
Israel is waging a campaign of targeted eliminations against members of various terrorist groups who are orchestrating violence in the West Bank.
The Israel Defense Forces targeted a building in Beirut and eliminated senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr on July 30. In the early hours of July 31, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran. Israel did not take credit for the latter killing, but Iran and its proxies have blamed Israel and vowed to respond, and Israel is preparing for possible attacks.
The Israeli military carried out an airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut Tuesday evening, killing Fuad Shukr, a top Lebanese Hezbollah commander.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out precision airstrikes on several Hamas members in Gaza and targets in Lebanon. Israeli forces also eliminated a Hezbollah member in a Lebanon strike, part of a growing pattern of targeting individual terrorists. In addition, the IDF said an RPG attack in Gaza wounded a soldier.
Palestinian terrorist groups fighting in Lebanon continue to lose fighters to Israeli strikes as Islamic Jihad claims the death of a member on Saturday.
In a significant escalation, Hezbollah pummeled northern Israel on Wednesday with more than 200 rockets in the terror group’s largest single-day attack since the start of the war in Gaza. If the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) does not execute its mandated mission by stopping Hezbollah attacks on Israel and ensuring the group withdraws north of the Litani River, the steadily intensifying violence on Israel’s northern border could become a full-scale war with massive loss of life.
Evidence of foreign fighters operating in southern Lebanon continues to mount as the Israeli military recently killed three Syrian members of Islamic Jihad.