IDF steps up strikes on Hezbollah as key deadline approaches

In an unusual move, the strike was announced in a joint IDF–Shin Bet statement.

By World Israel News Staff

The Israeli Air Force carried out a targeted strike on a vehicle in northern Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley Thursday morning, hitting a terrorist operative in the area of the village of Hosh al-Sayyid Ali, Israeli officials said.

In an unusual move, the strike was announced in a joint statement by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), signaling the involvement of Israeli domestic intelligence in the operation.

According to the statement, “The IDF and the Shin Bet recently struck a terrorist in the Natsariya area of Lebanon.”

The targeted vehicle was struck at an exceptional distance of approximately 140 kilometers from Israel’s border, on a road located just a few kilometers from the Lebanon-Syria border in the northern Beqaa Valley — an area not commonly associated with Israeli air operations.

The strike came one day after the IDF confirmed it had carried out a separate targeted attack against a Hezbollah terrorist in the Janta area of southern Lebanon on Wednesday night.

Lebanese media reported that the vehicle strike took place near the burial site of Hashem Safi al-Din, the designated successor to slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Earlier Wednesday, the IDF also struck multiple Hezbollah launch sites in southern Lebanon, destroying military structures and terror infrastructure.

Amid the escalation, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun sought to project calm, saying diplomatic efforts were continuing to prevent a wider conflict.

“Our diplomatic contacts are ongoing to keep the spirit of war at bay, and matters are moving in positive directions,” Aoun said.

Addressing Hezbollah’s weapons, Aoun added that “the decision has been made” regarding disarmament and that implementation would proceed “according to circumstances.”

The strikes and comments by Aoun come as a key deadline draws just days away for Lebanon to demonstrate concrete steps toward restraining Hezbollah’s military activity, amid growing international pressure and warnings that Israel will not tolerate continued threats along its northern border.

Israeli officials have repeatedly stressed that targeted operations will continue wherever necessary to remove threats and prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding or expanding its operational reach.