Israel says senior Hezbollah commander killed in overnight airstrike

Lebanon says three others killed in separate attack allegedly targeting Hezbollah operatives moving weapons; heavy Israeli strikes also reported in Syrian coastal city of Latakia

By Emanuel Fabian
and ToI Staff 27 March 2025, 9:43 amUpdated at 11:34 am Edit
A video posted to social media purporting to show explosions in the Syrian port city of Latakia, March 27, 2025. (X: Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Airstrikes overnight killed a senior Hezbollah commander and targeted another group of Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon, Israel said Thursday.

Israeli fighter jets also reportedly bombed Syria’s Latakia port area overnight, with massive blasts rocking the area, according to Syrian and Lebanese media reports early Thursday.

Lebanese authorities reported at least four killed in two separate strikes overnight in the south of the country.

In the Tyre District, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed carrying out a drone strike shortly after midnight on Thursday, killing Ahmed Adnan Bajija, a battalion commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force.

The military said the commander was involved in directing numerous attacks on Israel and IDF troops amid the war, and in recent months, amid the ceasefire, “continued to engage in advancing terror attacks on the Israeli home front.”

The IDF published footage of the strike in the village of Derdghaiya, adjacent to Maaroub.

Lebanon’s health ministry reported that one man was killed in the attack. Images from the scene show the destroyed vehicle in flames.

In another strike on Thursday morning, the IDF said it targeted a group of Hezbollah operatives who were identified moving weapons around the Yohmor area.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said three men were killed in the attack.

Israel has continued to carry out strikes on Hezbollah operatives and members of affiliated terror groups since a ceasefire in November, following two months of open war aimed at ending rocket attacks from the Iran-backed group that plagued the north for nearly a year.

The terror group started firing rockets and drones at Israeli communities and military posts on October 8, 2023, in support of fellow terror group Hamas, which had invaded Israel from the Gaza Strip a day earlier.

Israel says it targets Hezbollah military sites that violate the ceasefire agreement.

Strikes on Sunday and Monday also killed Hezbollah members.

Under the ceasefire, Hezbollah was obligated to pull its forces north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south, while the Lebanese army deployed to control the area.

Israel, in parallel, was obligated to withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon, though it retains the right to respond to immediate threats.

Following an initial postponement, with US and Lebanese approval, of the deadline to withdraw, Israel pulled all its troops out of Lebanon in February, with the exception of five strategic posts along the border.

In neighboring Syria, the official SANA news agency reported that several airstrikes hit the Latakia port and the coastal city early Thursday morning.

Israel’s military did not comment on the alleged strikes in Syria.

Sources told Lebanon’s Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen news outlet that jets hit several military positions in the port that are used by foreign factions linked to the Syrian Defense Ministry, including from Chechnya and Uzbekistan.

Video shared on social media purportedly of the strikes showed a large explosion lighting up the sky above the port.

Sources also told Al Mayadeen that there were loud explosions at the same time north of Quneitra in the Syrian Golan Heights, where Israeli troops have been operating since late last year.

Following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime to Islamist-led rebels in December, Israel has vowed to destroy weapons in Syria it fears could fall into the hands of “hostile forces” that may seek to attack it. Israeli troops have also been stationed inside the buffer zone along the Israel-Syria border, which was manned by UN peacekeepers until the fall of Assad’s regime in December 2024.

On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces said it bombed targets at two airbases in central Syria.

The strikes in Syria have drawn condemnation and concern, including from Syria’s interim leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, as well as the European Union.

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