IDF says two Hezbollah operatives killed in Sunday drone strike in southern Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that two people killed in a drone strike in southern Lebanon the day before were Hezbollah operatives working to rebuild the terror group’s infrastructure.

Lebanon’s health ministry had also reported two dead in the strike that targeted a car driving near the town of Jmaijmeh — located some eight kilometers from the Israeli border.

The IDF said that the pair were involved in restoring Hezbollah infrastructure in the area, in violation of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.

The military published footage of the strike.

Israel has been ramping up its military operations in Lebanon in recent weeks, amid reports it is considering a new wide-scale offensive targeting Hezbollah.

The US-brokered truce with Hezbollah in November 2024 came after two months of open conflict in Lebanon, including an IDF ground operation in the country’s south intended to enable the safe return of some 60,000 residents of northern Israel displaced by the terror group’s near-daily attacks that began in October 2023 — a day after fellow Iran-backed terror group Hamas invaded southern Israel, sparking the war in Gaza.

According to the November 2024 agreement, Hezbollah was required to pull its forces north of the Litani River and have its military infrastructure in the vacated area dismantled. The Lebanese government was also required to work toward the terror group’s disarmament in all of Lebanon.

צה"ל חיסל שני מחבלים שעסקו בשיקום תשתיות צבאיות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה

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צה"ל תקף וחיסל אתמול, במרחב ג'מיג'מה שבדרום לבנון, שני מחבלים מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה.

המחבלים עסקו בניסיונות שיקום תשתיות צבאיות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה.

פעילותם של המחבלים היוו הפרה בוטה של ההבנות בין… pic.twitter.com/uRdYoV3qd8

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) January 5, 2026

Israel has retained troops in Lebanon at five strategic points near the border, and regularly conducts strikes that it says target Hezbollah attempts to rearm and rebuild its strength.

Hezbollah is under internal and international pressure to hand over its weapons, with the Lebanese army having drawn up a plan to disarm it.

Jerusalem has questioned the Lebanese military’s effectiveness in disarming Hezbollah and has threatened to intensify military action.

Since the ceasefire, the IDF says it has killed over 390 Hezbollah operatives and members of allied terror groups in strikes, hit hundreds of Hezbollah sites, and conducted over 1,200 raids and other small operations in southern Lebanon.