The Israel Defense Forces carried out an airstrike Thursday in the Lebanese village of Sil, near Beirut, targeting an operative for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the military said. It was unclear if the strike was successful.
According to the IDF, the target was involved in smuggling weapons and advancing terror plots against Israeli civilians and IDF troops, acting on behalf of the Quds Force, the IRGC’s foreign arm, which is responsible for supporting Tehran’s regional proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Saudi news outlet Al-Hadath identified the target as Qassem Al-Husseini. It was not immediately clear if the target was a Lebanese or Iranian national.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that one person was killed and three people were injured in the IDF strike. According to the NNA, “an enemy drone targeted a car on the Khalde highway” south of Beirut.
An AFP photographer saw a half-burnt car on the crowded highway as the Lebanese army sealed the area off.
Israel has continued to strike Lebanon despite the November ceasefire with Hezbollah. The agreement required Hezbollah to pull its fighters back north of the Litani River, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli frontier.
The IDF was to withdraw from all of Lebanon, to be replaced by the Lebanese army and international peacekeepers, but has kept troops in five points Israel deems strategic.
Israel reserved the right under the agreement to act against imminent threats by Hezbollah, and has also accused Beirut of not doing enough to disarm the terror group.
Unprovoked, Hezbollah began launching near-daily attacks on Israel on October 8, 2023 — a day after fellow Iran-backed terror group stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
Hezbollah’s rocket fire displaced some 60,000 residents of northern Israel. In a bid to ensure their safe return home, Israel stepped up operations in Lebanon in September, decimating Hezbollah’s leadership.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.