Israel’s military announced a significant escalation in its military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, hitting key targets in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Thursday. In a series of 11 consecutive airstrikes, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) targeted Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters and struck a suspected underground bunker meeting in the southern Dahieh suburb, where several senior Hezbollah leaders were reportedly gathered.
Among those believed to have been targeted was Hashem Safieddine, a high-ranking Hezbollah official and cousin of the group’s slain leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Safieddine, who heads the Iran-backed group’s executive council, is seen as Nasrallah’s successor. Nasrallah was killed in a previous Israeli airstrike as part of Israel’s recent bombardment campaign, which has expanded from Gaza to Lebanon. Safieddine has been on the radar of the U.S. State Department, which designated him a terrorist in 2017.
The strikes on Beirut, one of the most intense bombing campaigns in the city since the conflict escalated, reverberated through the mountain regions outside the capital, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency. The IDF issued warnings to residents in southern Beirut neighborhoods, including Burj al-Barajneh and Hadath, urging them to evacuate as Israeli military operations against Hezbollah facilities were expected to intensify.
In a separate counterterrorism operation on Thursday, Israeli forces eliminated Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi, the head of a Hamas terrorist network in the West Bank city of Tulkarm. Oufi, who had been planning a new terror attack and was responsible for orchestrating numerous assaults against Israeli civilians, was killed in an airstrike.
Earlier this week, the IDF also confirmed the death of Mahmoud Yusef Anisi, a senior Hezbollah member and key figure in the group’s Precision Guided Missile (PGM) campaign, in another airstrike in Beirut. Anisi had over 15 years of experience in Hezbollah’s weapons manufacturing operations and was instrumental in advancing the group’s missile capabilities.
The intensified strikes come amid Israel’s broader military offensive, which has now shifted its focus to southern Lebanon following nearly a year of low-level cross-border fighting. Over 1,000 people have been killed, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced in the ongoing conflict, as Israel continues to target Hezbollah strongholds across Lebanon.
As the conflict escalates, the region braces for further violence, with Israeli ground forces conducting raids into southern Lebanon and Hezbollah’s retaliation efforts likely to intensify.
