Israeli forces blockaded Lebanon this weekend after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized the assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah a few minutes after completing his address to the United Nations on Friday afternoon.
Hezbollah’s Nasrallah Eliminated by Israel
The entire Hezbollah high command was eliminated together with Nasrallah, the IDF confirmed, including Ali Karki, the Commander of Hezbollah’s Southern Front, and additional Hezbollah commanders. Several senior members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including IRGC Quds Force in Lebanon commander Abbas Nilforoushan, were also killed.
Following the strike, the IDF imposed a military blockade on Lebanon to prevent the rearming of the terrorist organization by Iran, via Syria.
Over the last day, Lebanese bulldozers were attacked from the air trying to restore the six land border crossings between Lebanon and Syria that were bombed by the Israeli Air Force earlier this week. The Israeli military officially informed Lebanon that it will not allow planes arriving from Syria or Iran to land in Beirut.
An Iranian cargo plane was advised Saturday morning not to land in Beirut and Iranian ships may also be stopped off the coast of Lebanon. Civilian movement will be allowed, the IDF said.
For years, the Hezbollah terrorist organization systematically operated to build up its capabilities and increase its stockpile of weapons. Weapons and components have been smuggled from the east into Lebanon and delivered to manufacturing sites, where a range of weapons are produced—including precision-guided missiles—to be used in attacks against the State of Israel.
On Friday night, following precise intelligence, the IDF intensified its operations against Hezbollah’s force build-up through a series of targeted strikes on key weapons manufacturing sites. The targets included a facility used to produce and assemble missile and rocket launchers in southern Lebanon, as well as another site in the Beka’a Valley that was intended to support Hezbollah’s force build-up efforts.
IDF strikes were also carried out earlier this week (Thursday) on several smuggling routes used to transfer weapons from Syria into Lebanon.
Nasrallah’s bunker, which served as the Central Headquarters of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, was located underground embedded under a residential building. A total of six buildings were leveled with 83 tons of explosives dropped in Friday afternoon’s surgical strike monitored from the Israeli Air Force Command center by IDF Chief of General Staff LTG Herzi Halevi and IAF Commander MG Tomer Bar.
Nasrallah and Hezbollah joined the war against Israel launched on October 7, 2023 by fellow Iranian proxy Hamas in Gaza, the very next day — on October 8, 2023 — and since that time ordered and coordinated daily rocket, missile and explosive drone attacks on Israel.
The IDF said Saturday night that its forces are “continuing to act to degrade Hezbollah’s capabilities, which pose a threat to the citizens of Israel and the entire region.”
