Southern Lebanon explosion caused by Hezbollah weapons smugglers, not IAF strike, Adraee confirms
Southern Lebanon explosion caused by Hezbollah weapons smugglers, not IAF strike, Adraee confirms
The IDF confirmed an explosion in southern Lebanon was caused by a Hezbollah smuggling operation, not an Israeli airstrike, as Lebanese reports suggested earlier on Thursday.
An explosion in southern Lebanon was not caused by an IDF strike, but rather by a car which exploded when Hezbollah terrorists attempted to smuggle weapons, IDF Arabic spokesperson Col. Avichay Adraee confirmed on Thursday.
Adraee was responding to “false Lebanese reports” that the Israel Air Force conducted an airstrike near Toula in southern Lebanon.
Israel has conducted airstrikes on Hezbollah terrorists across the area over recent weeks.
The IDF early on Thursday morning carried out intelligence-based airstrikes on Hezbollah infrastructure, including a weapons storage facility and an underground site, in southern Lebanon, the military announced.
According to the IDF, the sites were positioned near civilian areas.
“These terror infrastructure sites were located near the civilian population, serving as yet another example of Hezbollah’s cynical use of Lebanese civilians as human shields for its operations conducted from within civilian areas,” the military stated.
The military also killed three Hezbollah terrorists in several airstrike operations in southern Lebanon earlier this week.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem: ‘Israeli attacks cannot continue, everything has a limit’
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem threatened Israel in a Tuesday speech.
“Israeli attacks cannot continue; everything has a limit. We will not give up our weapons,” he said.
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Qassem expressed that the recent arrangement, which includes the deployment of the Lebanese army south of the Litani River, is seen as a victory by Hezbollah, framing it as a positive step in the protection and strengthening of Lebanon’s national interests.
Qassem’s comments came amid the first anniversary of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah terrorists on November 10.
IDF unveils Hezbollah’s reconstruction map, targets key terror hubs in Lebanon
The IDF’s Intelligence Directorate mapped Hezbollah’s operations in southern Lebanon, finding that Nabatiya, in particular, has become a strategic focal point for rearming and reconstructing, the military announced on Tuesday.
The six confirmed IDF strikes on Hezbollah terrorists in Nabatiya in the past month indicate that the military is dismantling Hezbollah’s upper command and central logistics in the region, understanding that these are the hubs from which the reconstruction effort is managed.
IDF strikes near Tyre also indicate damage to the nerve center of Hezbollah’s capabilities to reconstruct their terror infrastructure, the military found. This would show that the IDF is stripping the terror group’s infrastructure capabilities rather than just killing terror commanders and operatives.
The IDF noted that Hezbollah terrorists in Tyre are attempting to rebuild underground systems, bunkers, and positions for terrorists to embed themselves.
IDF strikes in smaller villages in southern Lebanon would indicate that the military is conveying a message of tight intelligence monitoring and precise targeting across the area.
However, the presence of terrorists across southern Lebanon indicates a concern for the security echelons that the Shia population, who are a significant majority in the area, is not opposing the terror group’s attempts to re-establish their infrastructure and resume their terror activities, despite the destruction caused by IDF strikes.
Amir Bohbot contributed to this report.
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