Israel SitRep: October 2, 2024

Today’s Issue: | Iran Strikes Israel with Ballistic Missiles; IDF: ‘We Will React When and Where We Decide’ | IDF Kills Two Hezbollah Commanders in Targeted Strikes on Tuesday | More Than 150 Terrorist Infrastructures Destroyed in Southern Lebanon, Strikes Are Continuing | IDF Strike Hamas Command and Control Centers in Northern and Central Gaza | Latest FDD Analysis

Iran Strikes Israel with Ballistic Missiles; IDF: ‘We Will React When and Where We Decide’: Iran last night launched some 180 long-range ballistic missiles at Israel, leading to missile alerts in nearly the entire country and sending about 10 million people, nearly all of Israel’s population, to bomb shelters. According to the IDF, the country’s air defenses functioned effectively. Most of the missiles were intercepted by the Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 air defense systems. Other countries, including the United States, Jordan, and France, helped Israel to repel the attack. The only death reported was that of a Palestinian from Gaza who was killed in Jericho in the West Bank from falling rocket fragments. IDF International spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani stated: “This large-scale attack is unacceptable and will bear consequences. We will defend our people, and we will react when and where we decide.”

IDF Kills Two Hezbollah Commanders in Targeted Strikes on Tuesday: On Tuesday, Israeli Air Force fighter jets, with precise guidance from Aman military intelligence, eliminated Daw Alfakher Hinawi, the commander of Hezbollah’s Imam Hossein Division in Beirut. According to the IDF, the division moved its operations to Lebanon at the beginning of the war and is working closely with Hezbollah’s southern front, taking an active part in the fighting and carrying out terrorist attacks from Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. These include drone strikes, anti-tank attacks, and rocket attacks targeting communities in Israel’s north. Earlier on Tuesday, the IAF eliminated Muhammad Ja’far Kasir, commander of Unit 4400, which delivers weapons from Iran and its proxies to Hezbollah in Lebanon. IAF fighter jets, with precise intelligence from Aman military intelligence, struck in Beirut, killing Kasir. According to the IDF, Kasir was one of Hezbollah’s top leaders and one of the most dominant figures in the Iran-Hezbollah-Syria terror axis. He directed hundreds of operations to deliver strategic weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon and was involved in Hezbollah’s precision missile project. In recent years, he was in charge of Hezbollah’s financing and was responsible for moving hundreds of millions of dollars every year from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

More Than 150 Terrorist Infrastructures Destroyed in Southern Lebanon, Strikes Are Continuing: The Israeli Air Force on Wednesday published a summary of its activities in southern Lebanon, noting that paratroopers, armored forces, and commandos, together with IAF fighter jets and drones, are continuing to operate in several areas of southern Lebanon, eliminating terrorists and destroying terrorist infrastructures with precision weapons and in face-to-face combat. More than 150 terrorist infrastructures have been destroyed in airstrikes, including rocket launchers, weapons depots, Hezbollah command centers, and rocket launchers. A short time later, the IAF wrote that fighter jets are continuing to strike terrorist targets in southern Lebanon, including terrorists, observation posts, military infrastructure, and weapons depots.

IDF Strike Hamas Command and Control Centers in Northern and Central Gaza: Overnight, the Israeli Air Force, with intelligence guidance from Aman military intelligence and the Southern Command, carried out drone strikes against Hamas terrorists operating in command-and-control centers located in compounds previously used to house schools. In northern Gaza, Hamas was operating from buildings that previously housed the Muscat and Rimal schools, while in central Gaza, it was using a facility that used to be the Brig High School. The IDF said that the command-and-control centers in both northern and central Gaza were used to plan and carry out terrorist attacks against the IDF troops and against Israel. The announcement adds that before attacking, the IDF took numerous steps to minimize harm to civilians, including aerial reconnaissance, precision weaponry, and additional intelligence. On Wednesday, IAF fighter jets launched a precision strike, with intelligence guidance from the Shin Bet, Aman military intelligence, and the 252nd Division, on terrorists in a command-and-control center in a facility in central Gaza’s Nuseirat that was previously used as the Nuseirat Girls’ School. Here too, the military said that the command-and-control center was used for planning and executing terrorist attacks and noted that the IDF took numerous steps to minimize harm to civilians.

Latest FDD Analysis:

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

“Iran Escalates Middle East War with Direct Attacks on Israel,” Jonathan Schanzer, Jonathan Conricus, Jacob Nagel, and Behnam Ben Taleblu, FDD SITREP

“The threat of all-out Middle East war looms: two scenarios,” Mark Dubowitz, Daily Mail

“Not Too Late to Stop Iran’s Nuclear Program,” Orde Kittrie, The Wall Street Journal

“The Contest of Wills Between Israel and Hezbollah,” David Daoud and Ahmad Sharawi, The Dispatch

“Hezbollah c’est moi: The Party of God without Hassan Nasrallah,” David Daoud, MENASource

“Iran Escalates Multi-Front Assault on Israel as Missiles Rain on Jewish State,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Israel Vows Retaliation Against Tehran Regime,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief