Israel SitRep: September 20, 2024

Today’s Issue: | Israeli Airstrike on Hezbollah Stronghold Near Beirut Targets Hezbollah Official Wanted by U.S. | Rocket Barrages Hit Northern Israel Friday; IAF Strikes in Southern Lebanon | Hezbollah Hit by Massive Attacks Thursday for Third Day in a Row | Seven Gunmen Killed in Joint Shin Bet-IDF Operation in West Bank Town of Qabatiya | Latest FDD Analysis

Israeli Airstrike on Hezbollah Stronghold Near Beirut Targets Hezbollah Official Wanted by U.S.: On Friday, the IDF announced an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, noting that more information would follow. According to Lebanese media, the strike was in the Hezbollah stronghold of Dahieh, a Beirut suburb. Israeli security officials later told Israeli media that the strike targeted senior Hezbollah official Ibrahim Aqil. In April 2023, the U.S. State Department’s Rewards for Justice Program announced “a reward of up to $7 million for information leading to the identification, location, arrest, and/or conviction of Hizballah key leader Ibrahim Aqil,” noting that “during the 1980s, Aqil was a principal member of Hizballah’s terrorist cell the Islamic Jihad Organization, which claimed responsibility for the bombings of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut in April 1983, which killed 63 people, and the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in October 1983, which killed 241 U.S. personnel.” According to Amir Bohbot, defense correspondent for Israeli media outlet Walla, Aqil is Hezbollah’s “de facto chief of staff,” and his death, if confirmed, would be “an earthquake for Hezbollah,” a “very serious injury to the organization and its military wing.”

Rocket Barrages Hit Northern Israel Friday; IAF Strikes in Southern Lebanon: On Friday, sirens sounded in the upper Galilee, Safed, and the Golan Heights, and some 120 rockets crossed into Israel from Lebanon. Some were intercepted. Shrapnel from interceptions fell in some areas, and firefighters are working to put out fires. Also on Friday, a Hezbollah operative was eliminated in an Israeli Air Force drone strike in the area of Kafr Kila in southern Lebanon after soldiers from the 869th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit spotted him entering a military building. In addition, IAF fighter jets struck Hezbollah military buildings in Kafr Kila, Taybeh, Odaisseh, Mays Al-Jabal, Aitaroun, and Yaroun. Meanwhile, the Iranian proxy group Kataib Hezbollah announced the death of a security advisor for the group, Abu Haidar al-Khafaji, in an airstrike this morning near Damascus, presumably carried out by Israel.

Hezbollah Hit by Massive Attacks Thursday for Third Day in a Row: On Thursday, for the third day in a row, massive attacks were carried out against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Tuesday’s pager explosions and Wednesday’s walkie-talkie explosions were followed on Thursday afternoon by Israeli airstrikes against some 100 Hezbollah rocket launchers and other military infrastructure, with the launchers including about a thousand rockets ready for immediate use. After the airstrikes, the military updated its instructions for residents of some communities in Israel’s north, telling them to avoid large gatherings, guard the entrance to the community, limit their movements, and stay near bomb shelters. The IDF later lifted the restrictions. On Friday, amid Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel, the IDF again called on people living in certain northern communities to stay close to bomb shelters, avoid large gatherings, and limit their movements.

Seven Gunmen Killed in Joint Shin Bet-IDF Operation in West Bank Town of Qabatiya: On Thursday, in a joint IDF-Shin Bet operation in Qabatiya in the West Bank, soldiers from the Duvdevan special forces unit eliminated four gunmen in an exchange of fire, seizing three guns and other weapons found on the men’s bodies. In the evening, three other gunmen in the area who fired at troops were killed by an Israeli Air Force drone strike on their car. Explosives and weapons in the car caused secondary explosions. One of those killed in the drone strike was Shadi Zakarneh, who according to the IDF was in charge of a terror network in Qabatiya and was responsible for directing and carrying out attacks in northern Samaria. During the operation, troops detained seven people suspected of carrying out terrorist attacks.

Latest FDD Analysis:

Today at 8:30am (ET): “FDD Morning Brief,” featuring Jonathan Schanzer and Hen Mazzig, FDD Event

“Iran rallies proxy groups and allies to vote against Israel ahead of UN speech,” Seth J. Frantzman, The Jerusalem Post

“From chaos to fear: Hezbollah’s dilemma,” Seth J. Frantzman, The Jerusalem Post

“Why Hezbollah’s pager op. losses could lead to new phase of war,” Seth J. Frantzman, The Jerusalem Post

“Iran outraged its ambassador to Lebanon was harmed in pager attack,” Seth J. Frantzman, The Jerusalem Post

“Now paging Hassan Nasrallah,” Bill Roggio, Joe Truzman, and David Daoud, Generation Jihad (by FDD’s Long War Journal)

“IDF prepares for possible Hezbollah escalation after pager op in Lebanon,” Seth J. Frantzman, FDD’s Long War Journal

“Israeli Businessman Indicted in Iranian-Orchestrated Assassination Plot Appears in Court,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Hezbollah has Suffered ‘Major and Unprecedented Blow,’ Nasrallah Admits,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“UN Calls to Boycott Israel and Institute Arms Embargo,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“November Ceasefire in Gaza Collapsed After Hamas Lied About Female Hostages,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief