The IDF said Tuesday that an airstrike the previous day killed a Hezbollah operative who also served in a Lebanese army intelligence unit, marking a rare and potentially explosive overlap between Lebanon’s military and the Iran-backed terrorist group. Two other Hezbollah members were also killed in the strike.
According to the military, the main target, Ali Abdullah, was a Hezbollah operative and concurrently a soldier in Lebanon’s army. The strike, which targeted a car in al-Quneitra near the southern city of Sidon, also killed Mustafa Balout, reportedly active in Hezbollah’s air defense in the Sidon region, and Hassan Hamdan.
Israeli strike on Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon
(Video: IDF)
The IDF said the operation was part of an ongoing campaign against Hezbollah operatives working to rebuild terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon, in violation of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. The military warned it would continue to act against efforts to restore Hezbollah’s capabilities in the border region.
In anticipation of a potential broader military campaign in Lebanon, the IDF revealed earlier this month that at least 40 Hezbollah operatives had been killed in 30 southern Lebanese villages since early October. These casualties are in addition to more than 380 Hezbollah members killed since the current ceasefire technically took effect, a period during which Israel says Hezbollah has violated the agreement more than 1,900 times.
The IDF said those killed were involved in various terror activities, including restoring military infrastructure, weapons smuggling and coordinating locals with Hezbollah’s command structure, further evidence, it said, of the group's entrenched presence in southern Lebanon in breach of past agreements.
The strike comes amid heightened tensions between Lebanon and Iran over reported links between the Lebanese Armed Forces and Hezbollah. Earlier this month, the Lebanese military issued a rare public denial after Iranian media claimed deep ties between the two.
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Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
(Photo: KHAMENEI.IR / AFP, West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS)
UK-based Iranian opposition outlet Iran International reported in early December that Hossein Mohammadi Sirat of Imam Sadegh University, speaking on a website affiliated with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, claimed that 30% of Lebanon’s military personnel are Hezbollah members and likened the group to Iran’s Basij militia.
The comments triggered backlash in Beirut, where officials saw the statements as damaging to the army’s standing. Lebanon’s leadership has sought to assert state sovereignty, disarm Hezbollah and curb Iranian influence. Lebanon’s MTV network described the remarks as “Iranian incitement against the Lebanese army,” and they have added fuel to growing diplomatic tensions, including a series of sharp exchanges between the countries’ foreign ministers.