Hezbollah is accelerating efforts to rebuild its military and economic infrastructure following the heavy blows it suffered during last year’s conflict with Israel, sparking growing concern among Israeli security officials and international observers.
In recent weeks, Israeli intelligence has detected an uptick in the terror group’s rearmament, including in southern Lebanon — a move that violates existing agreements between Jerusalem and Beirut. Despite repeated Israeli warnings, Lebanon’s oversight mechanisms have failed to act effectively to curb Hezbollah’s buildup.
Israeli strikes in Lebanon
According to Israeli defense sources, Hezbollah continues to conduct training exercises, transfer weapons, and rehabilitate its operational and financial systems — sometimes with the knowledge, and in certain cases the cooperation, of the Lebanese army. Over the past month, the IDF struck dozens of targets across southern Lebanon, including operational sites, weapons depots and rocket production facilities. The IDF said it would maintain freedom of action in Lebanon and continue counterterrorism strikes as required.
On Thursday night, the IDF carried out an intensified wave of strikes in and around the coastal city of Tyre, hitting targets located deep within civilian areas. Hezbollah is known to place its weapons among homes in southern Lebanese villages, using residents as human shields. The IDF issued more than five evacuation notices to Lebanese civilians in the region during the same day.
Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo, head of the IDF Northern Command, said Israel would not allow Hezbollah to rebuild its presence near the border.
“We will not allow Hezbollah to establish itself and reorganize on our borders,” Milo said. “We will continue to strike and operate in the security zone and along the front line to protect residents, and we will act against every threat we identify.”
Southern Lebanon, home to a predominantly Shiite population, remains a key support base for Hezbollah, with an overt militant presence that contrasts with Beirut. In the capital, where the group holds strategic assets, it has faced growing public resistance. Israeli officials note that Hezbollah’s current rearmament differs from pre-war years, when advanced weapons flowed freely from Iran through Syria into Lebanon. Syrian President Ahamad al-Sharaa’s regime is now attempting to block such shipments, as are Israel and the Lebanese army through near-daily interdiction efforts.
Yet Hezbollah has adapted, focusing on developing low-cost, easily assembled weapons — such as drones and loitering munitions — manufactured within Beirut itself. These simple systems pose interception challenges for the IDF and reflect lessons Hezbollah learned from the previous Lebanon war.
Israel’s military is also adapting. Following months of smuggling incidents along the Egyptian border, the IDF has been instructed to form a special unit to counter drone-based smuggling operations from Egypt. Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that the area near the border would be declared a closed military zone, warning that anyone entering the area would face lethal force.
Strikes in southern Lebanon
“We are declaring war,” Katz said. “Anyone who enters the forbidden area will be hit.”
Since the cease-fire earlier this year, the IDF has killed 340 Hezbollah operatives of varying ranks. In recent days, Israel has intensified its attacks on the group, which has so far refrained from responding.
Meanwhile, Israeli military and intelligence branches have finalized a comprehensive strike plan intended to weaken Hezbollah. The plan could be activated either by a political decision or if Hezbollah changes the rules of engagement and decides to retaliate. Another potential flashpoint could be a strike in Beirut, where Hezbollah stores weapons, though Israel has not targeted the capital so far.
Israeli officials remain divided over whether to activate this plan. Some argue that maintaining the current level of operations ensures ongoing international support while “mowing the grass” — disrupting Hezbollah’s buildup without escalating to all-out war. Others contend that a more forceful approach risks diplomatic backlash and could pressure Israel to curtail its current strategy.
Should Hezbollah retaliate, analysts warn, both sides could enter a new cycle of confrontation. Yet Israeli defense sources stress that Hezbollah is not the same formidable force it once was.
“This is not the same terror organization we faced on Oct. 7,” a senior Israeli official said. “It is no longer on the border with its Radwan forces. We hold several positions inside Lebanese territory, its leadership has been decimated, the Assad regime is weak, and Iran is struggling to support it. It can still fire rockets at Israel, but the response it will receive will be far harsher.”