IDF eliminates Hezbollah terrorist in Lebanon’s south on fourth consecutive day of strikes

Defense Minister Israel Katz warned on Sunday that “Hezbollah is playing with fire and the president of Lebanon is dragging his feet.”

By JNS

Four Hezbollah terrorists, including an officer, were eliminated in an Israel Defense Forces airstrike in Southern Lebanon on Saturday, the military announced on Sunday.

“Yesterday, the IDF struck and eliminated the logistics support officer of Hezbollah’s ‘Radwan Force’ in Southern Lebanon,” the Israeli military confirmed in the statement on Sunday morning.

The terrorist had been involved in “transferring weapons and in efforts to reestablish Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure in Southern Lebanon,” according to the statement.

The IDF strike on a vehicle in the Kfar Reman area of Lebanon, some seven miles north of the Israeli border, marked the continuation of a significant series of assassinations as Hezbollah continues to rebuild its military infrastructure in breach of the truce.

The Radwan Force is the Hezbollah unit tasked with infiltrating the Jewish state, seizing areas along the northern border and abducting hostages as part of the terror group’s “Conquer the Galilee” plan.

The IDF emphasized that the terrorists’ activities in Southern Lebanon constituted a threat to Israel’s security and violated the Nov. 26, 2024, truce Jerusalem signed with the Beirut government.

“The IDF will continue to operate to remove any threat to the State of Israel,” the statement concluded.

Defense Minister Israel Katz warned on Sunday that “Hezbollah is playing with fire and the president of Lebanon is dragging his feet.

“The commitment of the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah and remove it from Southern Lebanon must be realized,” Katz stated, adding, “Maximum enforcement [of the truce] will continue and even intensify—we will not allow a threat to the residents of the north.”

On Nov. 26, 2024, Israel and Lebanon signed a ceasefire aimed at ending more than a year of cross-border clashes between the IDF and Hezbollah.

The Iranian-backed terrorists began attacking the Jewish state in support of Hamas in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

Since the truce, the IDF has conducted frequent raids to stop Hezbollah from rebuilding its terrorist infrastructure in Southern Lebanon in violation of the ceasefire.

On Oct. 26, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem told Lebanon’s Al-Manar TV, which is closely affiliated with the terrorists, it had a “legitimate right” to possess weapons, despite the deal requiring it to disarm.

U.S. Special Envoy for Syria and Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, speaking at the International Institute for Strategic Studies Manama Dialogue in Bahrain on Saturday, revealed that the Iranian-backed terrorists still have between 15,000 and 20,000 missiles and rockets.

“Israel every day is bombing the south [of Lebanon]. Why? Because you still have thousands of rockets and missiles that are threatening it,” he stated.

“They’ve been very clear after Oct. 7. Israel has said, ‘We are going to defend our boundaries. We’re going to defend our borders. You put your weapons down, Hezbollah, and we will not have a problem.’”

The envoy also told the panel discussion that Jerusalem has intelligence that Hezbollah continues attempts to rearm, which is why Israel cannot withdraw from the points near the border it took during the fighting.

“Israel’s point of view is … that Hezbollah is actually rebuilding all the way along the Bekaa [Valley],” Barrack stressed in his comments.

“In our opinion … it’s not reasonable to tell Lebanon: forcibly disarm one of your political parties,” he said of Beirut’s obligations to disarm the U.S.-designated terror group as required under the ceasefire deal and U.N. resolutions prohibiting its activities on the southern border.

“Everybody’s scared to death to go into a civil war,” he added.

According to the envoy, Washington is instead seeking to incentivize the terrorist organization to “not utilize those rockets,” including through a peace agreement with Jerusalem. The Jewish state, he noted, has been “ready to make border and boundary agreements with all its neighbors.”

Jerusalem, said Barrack, “owes America a favor. On June 21st, when President [Donald] Trump sent those B2 bombers in [to attack Iran’s nuke sites], he did something for Israel that was an incredible reshaping of the region,” he said of the Jewish state’s willingness to engage in talks.

“The Lebanese leadership today is solid. President Aoun, Nawaf [Salam], even Speaker Berri. They’re trying, but they’re dinosaurs,” said Barrack.

“You have that conversation on the Blue Line [dividing Lebanon from Israel]. You have the conversation with Syria, and in four months you could end all of this,” according to the ambassador.