JNS
The terrorists' activities violated "the understandings between Israel and Lebanon," the military said.
The Israel Defense Forces killed two Hezbollah terrorists, including a member of the group's elite Radwan Force, in separate strikes across Southern Lebanon on Thursday morning.
In the space of an hour, the military killed Hassan Ahmad Sabra—a Radwan Force commander—near Nabatieh in southeastern Lebanon, and a second operative who was rebuilding infrastructure in the Naqoura area of southwestern Lebanon.
The Radwan Force is the Hezbollah unit tasked with infiltrating Israeli territory, seizing areas along the northern border and abducting hostages as part of the terrorist group's "Conquer the Galilee" plan.
The activities the terrorists were involved in "constitute a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon," the IDF stated, referring to the ceasefire agreement reached in November between Jerusalem and Beirut.
"The IDF will continue to act forcefully to remove any threat to the State of Israel," the military added.
On Tuesday morning, the Israeli Air Force carried out a broad wave of strikes targeting the Radwan Force in eastern Lebanon's Beqaa Valley.
The targeted camps were "used by the Hezbollah terror group to train and prepare operatives for attacks against IDF forces and the State of Israel," the military said, adding, "As part of this training, the terrorists conduct shooting drills and exercises with various types of weapons."
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the strikes sent "a clear message to the Hezbollah terror group, which is plotting to rebuild its capabilities to raid Israel through the Radwan Force—and also to the Lebanese government, which is responsible for upholding the agreement.
"Every terrorist will be targeted, and every threat to the residents of the State of Israel will be thwarted," he continued. "We will respond with maximum force to any attempt at rebuilding [Hezbollah]."
On Nov. 26, 2024, Jerusalem and Beirut signed a ceasefire deal aimed at ending more than a year of cross-border clashes between the IDF and Hezbollah. The Iranian-backed terror group began attacking the Jewish state in support of Hamas in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.
Since the truce, the IDF has conducted frequent raids to stop Hezbollah from rebuilding terrorist infrastructure in Southern Lebanon and so violating the terms of the ceasefire deal.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem has rejected demands to disarm in accordance with the truce, warning last week that the terror group was "rebuilding, recovering and ready now" to take on the IDF.
Meanwhile, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun over the weekend ruled out the possibility of normalizing relations with Jerusalem, though he expressed a desire to end the longstanding conflict with Israel.
"Peace is the lack of a state of war, and this is what matters to us in Lebanon at the moment. As for the issue of normalization, it is not currently part of Lebanese foreign policy,” Aoun said.
