Israeli troops seized a half ton of explosives in a Hezbollah subterranean facility underneath a southern Lebanon village, the Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Iran-backed terror group announced it selected Naim Qassem to replace Hassan Nasrallah as its top leader. It might work out to be a temporary job.
According to the army, the facility — eight meters below ground — served primarily as a command center for Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force. The IDF added that the site also contained a loading dock for cargo where a half ton of explosives were found.
“The infrastructure was dug up by the terrorist organization Hezbollah several years ago in a civilian population center in the heart of a village in southern Lebanon,” the IDF said without specifying the name of the village.
The underground facility and the explosives were destroyed.
Earlier in the day, a Hezbollah rocket killed a man when it directly struck a home in the northern Israeli community of Maalot-Tarshiha. Killed in the attack was 24-year-old Mohammed Naim. Three other people were treated for anxiety.
Also on Tuesday, Hezbollah announced that Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem was selected to replace Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah. Nasrallah was killed in airstrike in Beirut. Hashem Safieddine, who was widely viewed as Nasrallah’s successor, was subsequently killed by Israel.
In the morning, a drone launched by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen crashed in an open area near the southern city of Ashkelon. The crash sparked a fire but caused no casualties.
After the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, Hezbollah began firing rockets and launching drones at northern Israel communities daily. More than 68,000 residents of northern Israel are displaced from their homes. Hezbollah leaders have repeatedly said they would continue the attacks to prevent Israelis from returning to their homes.
According to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War, the terror group is forbidden from operating in southern Lebanon.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 97 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.
