IDF nabs top terror group figure from Lebanon, kills 2 Hezbollah operatives

The Israel Defense Forces captured a “senior” member of the al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya terror organization during an overnight raid in southern Lebanon, and separately killed two Hezbollah operatives, the military said Monday.

According to the IDF, the al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya operative was nabbed late Sunday from a building in the Mount Dov area near the border by a special forces unit operating under the 210th “Bashan” Regional Division. The raid was wrapped up early Monday morning, and there were no reports of clashes during the operation.

Al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya identified the official as Atwi Atwi, saying he was captured in the town of Habbariyeh, located some five kilometers north of the border.

The IDF said it had collected intelligence on the operative in recent weeks, which led it to launch the raid.

“The terrorist was detained and transferred for further interrogation within Israeli territory. In addition, weapons were located in the building where the terrorist was arrested,” the army said.

The IDF did not provide further details on the operative, other than describing him as a “senior” member of the terror group. According to a military source, the IDF decided to capture the operative instead of targeting him in a strike in an attempt to obtain intelligence on the group’s activities in Lebanon and Syria.

????Special footage from Al Arabi TV of the surroundings of the home of the Islamic Religious Group official #Atwi_Atwi after his abduction by an Israeli occupation force that infiltrated on foot at night.#Lebanon @AlarabyTV pic.twitter.com/rBG0bX3mke https://t.co/LoGKIqtJFG

— ⚡️???? World News ????⚡️ (@ferozwala) February 9, 2026

Al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya is a Sunni faction that forms part of the broader Muslim Brotherhood political network. The armed wing of the group, the al-Fajr Forces, established in the 1980s, repeatedly targeted Israel from Lebanon during the 2023-2024 war with Hezbollah, often working in conjunction with the Iran-backed Shiite Lebanese terror group.

The group said in a statement that it holds Israel “responsible for any harm that may befall him.” It called on the Lebanese government to put pressure on the sponsors of a ceasefire between the two countries, to end Israeli raids into Lebanon, and secure the release of those it has captured.

It also linked the raid to a visit to the same area the day before by Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, during which he emphasized that his visit was meant to underscore the presence of the Lebanese state in the south of the country, which was a stronghold of Hezbollah for decades.

In its statement, Al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya questioned if the Israeli “piracy” was a response to “the affirmation of the people of the region of their adherence to the state.”

The IDF said that al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya “advanced throughout the war and continues to attempt to advance terror activities against the State of Israel and its citizens in the northern sector.”

The military has also previously accused the group of closely cooperating with the Hezbollah and Hamas terror groups in both Lebanon and Syria, and maintaining military sites in southern Lebanon and infrastructure along the Syria-Lebanon border and in southern Syria.

صورة من مكان الغارة الإسرائيلية التي استهدفت آلية في بلدة #يانوح – جنوب لبنان pic.twitter.com/mlFFQLGUZA

— lebanon_trend1 (@lebanon_trend1) February 9, 2026

Shortly after announcing the capture, the IDF also said it carried out an airstrike against a Hezbollah operative in the southern Lebanon town of Yanouh.

According to the military, the strike killed Ahmad Ali Salami, who served as an artillery commander in Hezbollah.

The military said Salami advanced numerous rocket attacks on Israel during the 2023-2024 war with Hezbollah, and recently was working to restore the terror group’s artillery infrastructure “from within the civilian population in Lebanon.” His actions were a violation of the ceasefire.

“The IDF is aware of the claim that uninvolved civilians were killed,” the military said, after Lebanon’s health ministry reported three dead in the strike, including a three-year-old.

The IDF said it took steps to mitigate civilian harm, and that it “regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians and operates to minimize harm as much as possible.”

“The incident is under review,” the military added.

In a separate incident on Monday, the IDF said a Hezbollah operative was killed by Israeli troops in southern Lebanon’s Ayta ash-Shab.

The IDF said it collected intelligence on the operative in recent months, and recently he had worked to collect intel on Israeli forces and rebuild Hezbollah’s infrastructure in southern Lebanon.

“The terrorist’s activities constituted a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and posed a threat to IDF troops operating in the area,” the army said. Following the intelligence-gathering operations, troops of the 300th “Baram” Regional Brigade killed the operative, the military added.

Under the November 2024 ceasefire agreement, Hezbollah was required to withdraw and disarm south of the Litani River, but Israel alleges that the terror group remains entrenched in the area, leading to IDF to conduct near-daily strikes.

Lebanon’s government has committed to disarming Hezbollah, and the army last month said it had completed the first phase of its plan to do so, covering the area between the Litani River and the Israeli border about 30 kilometers (20 miles) further south.

The Israel-Hezbollah war started when the terror group began firing missiles across the border on October 8, 2023 — a day after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.

The November 2024 ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel followed an Israeli ground invasion and concurrent air assault that severely degraded the group and killed much of its leadership.