Israeli Forces Press Deeper into Lebanon as Security Cabinet Set to Vote on Ceasefire

Israeli Forces Press Deeper into Lebanon as Security Cabinet Set to Vote on Ceasefire

IDF troops have reached the Litani River for the first time since withdrawing from Lebanon in the year 2000.

By Ben Rappaport, United with Israel and Joshua Marks, JNS

The IDF is pressing deeper into Lebanon, announcing that forces have been operating in the Saluki region of Lebanon and in the area of the Litani River.

This marks the first time the IDF has reached the Litani River since it withdrew from Lebanon in the year 2000.

In the Saluki region, forces found hundreds of weapons, dozens of bunkers, and primed rocket launchers.

In the area of the Litani River, forces conducted intelligence-based raids on concealed terror infrastructure. In addition, they fought in close-quarters combat against Hezbollah terrorists and found and destroyed dozens of rocket launchers, thousands of rockets and missiles, weapons depots, and other weapons hidden in the mountainside.

The IDF said troops are “continuing in offensive operations alongside defensive missions in the North.”

Since Tuesday morning, the IAF has struck 30 Hezbollah targets in Southern Lebanon, the military announced in the afternoon. The strikes targeted weapons storage facilities, anti-tank missile depots and arms caches belonging to Hezbollah’s Aerial Defense unit in the Bint Jbeil area.

Storage facilities associated with the “Nasser” unit, responsible for many terror attacks against northern Israeli communities and IDF troops, were also targeted, as was the launcher used to attack the Western Galilee area on Monday, according to the military.

On Tuesday, the IAF targeted six Hezbollah sites in the terror group’s stronghold of Dahieh, south of Beirut. Over the past week, 30 Hezbollah targets have been hit in the Dahieh district, including operational hubs of the terrorist group’s intelligence unit and Unit 4400, which oversees weapons smuggling from Iran to Lebanon via Syria.

The IDF highlighted that, despite Hezbollah’s practice of embedding its infrastructure within residential neighborhoods, using the population as human shields, the military took extensive precautions to minimize harm to civilians. Measures included issuing advance warnings before the strikes.

On Tuesday, the IDF issued evacuation orders for approximately 20 buildings in Dahieh in preparation for strikes on Hezbollah assets.

Lebanese media reported an Israeli strike in central Beirut on Tuesday, which was carried out without warning, potentially targeting a high-profile individual. The IDF confirmed that it was carrying out strikes on Hezbollah terrorist targets in Beirut, noting that further details would be provided later.

The IDF also announced on Tuesday that Ahmad Sabhi Hazima, the commander of Hezbollah’s operations unit in the coastal sector, had been killed in an airstrike in the Tyre area.

According to the IDF, Hazima was responsible for orchestrating numerous terror attacks, including plans to infiltrate Israeli territory and launch anti-tank missiles at communities in the Western Galilee prior to the “Northern Arrows” operation.

Previously, Hazima served as deputy to the former coastal sector commander, who was killed on Nov. 17.

“This operation significantly weakens Hezbollah’s ability to plan and execute terrorist activities from southern Lebanon targeting Israeli civilians along the northern border,” the IDF stated.

Israel’s Channel 14 reported on Tuesday that Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, together with IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and other defense officials, has approved continued offensive operations on the northern front.

At the same time, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet is set to vote on a draft ceasefire agreement.

According to the reported terms of the agreement, all IDF soldiers are to withdraw from Southern Lebanon over a 60-day transition period.

Hezbollah will relocate its “heavy weapons” north of the Litani River, while the Lebanese Armed Forces are to deploy near the border areas.

A key unresolved issue is Israel’s insistence on maintaining operational freedom in Lebanon should Hezbollah violate the truce by rearming or attempting to reestablish its forces south of the Litani River.

The agreement reportedly includes a U.S.-led oversight committee to monitor implementation and address violations. Israel has pledged to limit military action against Hezbollah violations to situations where the Lebanese Armed Forces fails to neutralize the threat, and only after consulting with the United States.

United Nations Resolution 1701, which brought an end to the 2006 Second Lebanon War but was never fully enforced, mandated the complete demilitarization of Hezbollah south of the Litani River and prohibited the presence of armed groups in Lebanon except for the official Lebanese Army and UNIFIL.

Iran-backed Hezbollah has launched near-daily attacks on Israel for over a year, firing thousands of rockets, missiles and suicide drones at the Jewish state.

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