Israeli Airstrikes Hit 1,600 Hezbollah Targets Over Last 24 Hours

Jerusalem, 24 September, 2024 (TPS) -- The Israeli Air Force significantly ramped up its operations over Lebanon in the past 24 hours, the Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday.

Air Force fighter squadrons conducted hundreds of sorties, deploying around 2,000 munitions aimed at approximately 1,500 Hezbollah-related targets across southern and deep Lebanon.

The IDF said that among the attacks was a targeted strike in Beirut, presumably targeting a senior Hezbollah commander. Lebanese reports said the strike took place in the city’s Dahieh district, a Shi’ite Hezbollah stronghold but did not indicate the individual’s identity or fate.

Most of the chain of command for Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force was eliminated in an airstrike in Beirut on Friday.

On Monday, Israel called on residents of southern Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley to flee homes where the Iran-backed Hezbollah stored missiles.

The IDF disclosed that Hezbollah was preparing to launch a cruise missile hidden inside a civilian home. The army released footage, including of the airstrike that destroyed it.

Sarit Zahavi, president and founder of the Alma Research Center, told The Press Service of Israel in August that Hezbollah doctrine makes extensive use of civilian homes.

“Hezbollah stores their weapons everywhere, both between villages and within the villages themselves,” she said.

“By and large, every third house in the Shi’ite villages of south Lebanon is used in some way by Hezbollah for military purposes, be it weapons storage, the entrance of a tunnel, or a launchpad for shooting rockets at Israel,” she explained.

Hezbollah’s use of civilian homes has triggered sectarian tensions as tens of thousands of Lebanese fled.

Residents of northern Israel were forced to evacuate their homes when Hezbollah began launching rockets and drones in October. The terror group has launched more than 6,700 rockets and drones, killing 26 civilians and 22 soldiers on the Israeli side.

Hezbollah leaders have said they will continue the attacks to prevent Israelis from returning to their homes, which Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah reiterated in a speech on Thursday night.

Israeli officials have been calling for Hezbollah to be disarmed and removed from southern Lebanon in compliance with UN Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War.