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“The IDF will continue to act to remove any threat to the State of Israel,” the military said.
By United with Israel Staff
The Israel Defense Forces carried out a series of targeted strikes in southern Lebanon on Sunday, killing three Hezbollah terrorists within hours, as Israel continued to act against threats emerging along its northern border despite the group’s open refusal to disarm.
According to reports, two strikes were carried out within the span of roughly an hour earlier in the day. One attack targeted a motorcycle in the village of Yater, killing a Hezbollah terrorist. Shortly afterward, another strike hit a vehicle elsewhere in southern Lebanon, eliminating an additional terrorist.
A third, separate strike was later confirmed by the IDF. Israeli forces, operating under the Northern Command and with the support of the Air Force, eliminated Zakaria Yahya al-Hajj, a senior Hezbollah terrorist in the Jwaya area of southern Lebanon.
The IDF said al-Hajj held a significant role within Hezbollah and was involved in operating agents inside Lebanon’s security apparatus. According to the military, he also worked to suppress criticism from Hezbollah opponents within Lebanon, underscoring the group’s grip on both armed and internal political activity.
Israeli officials said al-Hajj’s actions posed a direct threat to Israel and its civilians and constituted a clear violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.
In a broader update, the IDF said that since October, Israeli forces have eliminated approximately 40 Hezbollah terrorists across some 30 different villages in southern Lebanon. Those figures add to more than 380 terrorists killed since the ceasefire came into effect, during which Hezbollah has violated the agreement more than 1,900 times.
According to the IDF, the terrorists targeted in recent months have been involved in terror-related activity including rebuilding Hezbollah infrastructure, smuggling weapons, and coordinating between local villagers and Hezbollah’s central command. The military said this activity serves as further evidence of Hezbollah’s entrenched presence in southern Lebanon, in direct contradiction to the understandings meant to keep the area free of armed terrorist forces.
“The IDF will continue to act to remove any threat to the State of Israel,” the military said.
The strikes came a day after Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem delivered a defiant speech rejecting any possibility that the Iran-backed terrorist organization would disarm, even under international pressure or the threat of Israeli military action.
Addressing the future of Hezbollah’s weapons, Qassem declared that the group’s arsenal is a red line tied to its very existence. “We will not lay down our weapons to serve Israel’s goals, even if the entire world unites in war against Lebanon,” he said, according to Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar newspaper.
In a televised address, Qassem described Hezbollah’s arms as sacred. “Land, arms, and the national spirit form a single, indivisible equation,” he said. “Any attempt to remove or even touch one is an assault on all three. That would amount to the erasure of our existence, and we will not permit it.”
Qassem’s defiant remarks were delivered as pressure on Hezbollah continues to mount. In recent weeks, Israel has made clear that patience is wearing thin, with the IDF accelerating operations against Hezbollah terrorists and infrastructure across southern Lebanon.
Israeli officials have warned that if the Lebanese government fails to curb or disarm the Iran-backed terror group by the approaching year-end deadline, Israel is prepared to significantly escalate its military response, viewing Hezbollah’s continued entrenchment as an intolerable and ongoing threat to Israeli security.
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