December 22, 2025 | FDD's Long War Journal

Israeli operations in Lebanon against Hezbollah: December 15–21, 2025

David Daoud

Senior Fellow
December 22, 2025 | FDD's Long War Journal

Israeli operations in Lebanon against Hezbollah: December 15–21, 2025

David Daoud

Senior Fellow

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted numerous operations throughout Lebanon against Hezbollah between December 15 and December 21, 2025. Israeli activities this week were concentrated in south Lebanon, largely south of the Litani River, but reached as far north as Baalbek and Hermel. The IDF targeted Hezbollah assets and personnel, including targeted killings of the group’s operatives, whom it claimed were involved in local Hezbollah regeneration efforts.

The IDF conducted operations in Lebanese locales, some of them more than once. These activities included:

  • Airstrikes: Seven
  • Artillery missions: Two
  • Drone strikes: Eight
  • Flares: One
  • Ground activities: Six
  • Mortar strikes: One
  • Naval operations: Two
  • Quadcopter activities: Four

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Baalbek-Hermel Governorate

  • Baalbek District: Boudai
  • Hermel District: Zeghrine

Mount Lebanon Governorate

  • Shouf District: Sebline

Nabatieh Governorate

  • Bint Jbeil District: Aitaroun and Yater
  • Hasbaya District: Bastara Farms and Kfarshouba
  • Marjayoun District: Adaisseh-Kfar Kela,Adaisseh-Markaba, Blida, Deir Seryan-Qusair, Houla, Kfar Kela, Markaba, and Taybeh
  • Nabatieh District: Zawtar

South Lebanon Governorate

  • Jezzine District: Birket Jabbour, Mount Rihan, and Qatrani
  • Tyre District: Dhayra, Marwahin, and Naqoura

Casualties

Between December 15 and December 21, 2025, Israeli operations in Lebanon killed three people, two of them Hezbollah operatives and one an Amal Movement operative, and wounded nine people. Additionally, Hezbollah identified the remains of three of its operatives killed during the recent war with Israel.

  • December 15, 2025: None reported
  • December 16, 2025: One Hezbollah operative was killed, one Amal operative was killed, the remains of one Hezbollah operative were identified, and five unidentified people were wounded.
  • December 17, 2025: The remains of one Hezbollah operative were identified.
  • December 18, 2025: Four electrical workers were wounded, and the remains of one Hezbollah operative were identified.
  • December 19, 2025: No casualties were reported.
  • December 20, 2025: No casualties were reported.
  • December 21, 2025: One Hezbollah operative was killed.

Chronology of Israeli operations against Hezbollah, December 15–21, 2025

December 15

  • NNA Lebanon reported that, overnight, an Israeli quadcopter dropped a fragmentation explosive on a house on the outskirts of Aitaroun in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Bint Jbeil District.
  • At 6:57 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that Israeli forces positioned inside Lebanese territory directed gunfire toward the outskirts of Houla and Markaba in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District.
  • At 7:01 pm,NNA Lebanon reported that Israeli forces positioned inside Lebanese territory directed machine gun fire from a newly established position in Jabal al Bat toward the outskirts of Aitaroun in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Bint Jbeil District.

December 16

  • At 6:59 am, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli naval gunboat directed machine gun fire toward Lebanese coastal waters opposite Naqoura in the South Lebanon Governorate’s Tyre District.
  • At 1:35 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that Israeli ground forces entered approximately 600 meters north of the Blue Line and allegedly placed booby-trapped “empty ammunition crates”in the Al Sari neighborhood of Dhayra in the South Governorate’s Tyre District. NNA Lebanon reported that Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) engineers later secured the area and detonated the ammunition crates.
  • At 3:57 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli drone strike targeted a vehicle on the road between Markaba and Adaisseh in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District. At 3:55 pm, the IDF released a statement claiming it had targeted a Hezbollah operative near Taybeh. Hezbollah-affiliated social media later announced the death of Hezbollah operative Hussain Hassan Yahya, whose nom de guerre was Ali Mortada, from Taybeh. The IDF later claimed Yahya “was operating to gather intelligence on Israeli forces in south Lebanon and was involved in efforts to restore Hezbollah’s terror infrastructure” in “violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
Death announcement for Hussain Hassan Yahya. (Balagh Media Telegram)
  • At 4:45 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli drone strike targeted a vehicle in Sebline in the Mount Lebanon Governorate’s Shouf District. The strike killed one person, reported as Hussain Quteish from Aqnoun, and wounded five unidentified people, including two unidentified passersby from Mazboud. The IDF claimed it had targeted and killed “a Hezbollah operative near Sebline in south Lebanon.” The Amal Movement later announced the death of Amal operative Hussain Samir Quteish, whose nom de guerre was Malak, from Aqnoun. Quteish was given an official Amal funeral in his hometown.
Death announcement for Hussain Samir Quteish. (@socialmediaamal on X)
  • At 5:11 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that Israeli artillery fired a phosphorus smokescreen shell on the outskirts of Marwahin in the South Governorate’s Tyre District.
  • At 6:11 pm, Hezbollah-affiliated social media announced that the group had located the lost remains of Hezbollah operative Ali al Hadi Ghassan Hijazi, whose nom de guerre was Abu Ali, from Tayr Debba. Hijazi appears to have been killed on an undetermined date between late September 2024 and November 27, 2024. Pro-Hezbollah social media also announced that the group had identified the remains of Hezbollah operative Khodor Turki Sujod, whose nom de guerre was Nasereddine, from Hermel. Sujod appears to have been killed during the same period as Hijazi.
  • At 6:59 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli naval vessel directed bursts of machine-gun fire toward Lebanese territorial waters off the coast of Naqoura in the South Governorate’s Tyre District and fired illumination flares over the same area.
  • At 11:02 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli quadcopter dropped a fragmentation explosive on the outskirts of Houla in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District, and an Israeli quadcopter dropped a stun explosive near a fishing boat off Ras Naqoura in the South Governorate’s Tyre District.

December 17

  • At 1:43 pm, Hezbollah-affiliated social media and pro-Hezbollah social media accounts announced that the group had identified the remains of Hezbollah operative Ali Imad Dhayni, whose nom de guerre was Karrar, from Toura. Dhayni appears to have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces in south Lebanon between late September 2024 and November 27, 2024.
  • At 4:08 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli drone strike targeted Tallet Sari, between Al Azieh and Shakhroub, in Kfar Kela in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District.

December 18

  • At 10:11 am, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli airstrike targeted the barrens of Boudai, west of Baalbek, in the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate’s Baalbek District.
  • At 10:17 am, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli airstrike targeted Zeghrine in the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate’s Hermel District.
  • At 10:20 am, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli airstrike targeted the area between Deir Seryan and Qusair in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District.
  • At 10:23 am, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli airstrike targeted the riverbed at the southern outskirts of Zawtar, in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Nabatieh District.
  • At 10:31 am, NNA Lebanon reported that Israeli airstrikes targeted Jawrat al Khadr/Kou al Feel in the South Governorate’s Jezzine District.
  • At 10:34 am, NNA Lebanon reported that Israeli airstrikes targeted the heights of Mount Rihan in the South Governorate’s Jezzine District.
  • The IDF released a statement on the preceding strikes, claiming that it had “targeted Hezbollah terror infrastructure throughout Lebanon,” including “terror infrastructure and rocket launchers in a military compound used by Hezbollah for military and training exercises for its operatives, activating artillery fire, and weapons storage.” The IDF added that in strikes “deeper inside Lebanon” — presumably referring to the strikes in the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate — “the IDF targeted Hezbollah military positions used for weapons storage and from which Hezbollah operatives had been operating during the recent period.” The IDF said that “the presence of this terror infrastructure and Hezbollah’s operations in these sites constitute a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
  • At 11:15 am, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli drone strike targeted a vehicle in Taybeh in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District. NNA Lebanon said the strike occurred while an Electricity of Lebanon (EDL) truck and workers were present, burning two vehicles and wounding four workers. The IDF released a statement claiming that it targeted a Hezbollah operative in the Taybeh area.
  • At 6:03 pm, Hezbollah-affiliated social media announced that the group had identified the remains of Hezbollah operative Salim Najeh Awada, whose nom de guerre was Radwan, from Mansouri. Awada appears to have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces in south Lebanon between late September 2024 and November 27, 2024.

December 19

  • No operations were reported.

December 20

  • At 12:51 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that Israeli forces positioned near Misgav Am in northern Israel directed machine-gun fire toward the Adaisseh-Kfar Kela in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District.
  • At 5:51 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli drone strike targeted an open and uninhabited area in Taybeh in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District.
  • At 5:56 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli quadcopter dropped fragmentation explosives on Blida in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District, while a loitering munition also struck a previously targeted house.

December 21

  • At 12:21 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that Israeli forces positioned inside Israel directed heavy machine gun fire toward Kfarshouba in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Hasbaya District, damaging a home. Additionally, Israeli artillery fired several shells into Bastara Farm in the Hasbaya District, causing unspecified material damage.
  • At 2:58 pm, the IDF announced that it had “targeted a Hezbollah terrorist near Yater in south Lebanon a short while ago.” At 3:46 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli drone targeted a vehicle in Yater in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Bint Jbeil District. The strike killed one person and wounded another. Hezbollah-affiliated social media later announced the death of Hezbollah operative hajj Ali Kamel Kourani, whose nom de guerre was Malak, from Yater. The IDF later released a statement claiming that it had targeted and killed a Hezbollah operative “involved in restoring Hezbollah’s military infrastructure in the area, in violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
Death announcement for Ali Kamel Kourani. (Balagh Media Telegram)
  • At 3:11 pm, the IDF announced that it had “targeted an additional Hezbollah terrorist near Yater in south Lebanon a short while ago.” NNA Lebanon reported a second drone strike hit Yater’s Kassar neighborhood but did not report any fatalities. The IDF said it was targeting another Hezbollah operative in the area but did not claim its strike succeeded in killing anyone.
  • At 4:46 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli quadcopter dropped a stun explosive toward the coastline of Naqoura in the South Lebanon District’s Tyre District.
  • At 6:01 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that Israeli forces fired flares over Aitaroun in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Bint Jbeil District.

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David Daoud is Senior Fellow at at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies where he focuses on Israel, Hezbollah, and Lebanon affairs.

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