Hezbollah operative killed in Israeli strike on south Lebanon town

IDF says operative involved in restoring terror group’s infrastructure; attack comes as Lebanese government pledges to disarm Hezbollah in areas near border with Israel

By Emanuel Fabian,

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AFP and ToI Staff 13 September 2025, 12:36 amUpdated at 3:12 pm

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Lebanese army soldiers and security forces deploy near a vehicle that was hit by a reported drone-strike at the entrance of the village of Barja, about 30 kilometres south of Beirut, on September 9, 2025. (Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)

A Hezbollah operative was killed in an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon on Friday evening, the military said on Saturday.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, the operative was involved in restoring Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon, in violation of a ceasefire agreement.

The strike was carried out in the town of Aitaroun. Lebanon’s health ministry confirmed one person was killed in a drone strike on Aitaroun, but did not specify if the individual was a civilian or combatant.

Under a November 27 ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, weapons in Lebanon were to be held only by the state, and the IDF was permitted to act against imminent threats by the terror group.

Israel has since carried out hundreds of attacks on Hezbollah personnel or assets, the vast majority of them in southern Lebanon, though it has also taken action deeper inside the country, including in the Beqaa valley, a stronghold of the Iran-backed group.

Since the beginning of the ceasefire, the IDF says it has carried out over 500 airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, killing at least 230 operatives and destroying dozens of sites belonging to the terror group, saying they violated the terms of the truce.

Earlier this month, Lebanon’s cabinet approved a plan to disarm the terror group, whose ministers and other Shi’ites in the government walked out on the meeting. Details of the disarmament plan remain secret.

IDF troops operate in Mount Dov area of southern Lebanon, in a photo cleared for publication September 3, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Lebanon’s army will have fully disarmed Hezbollah near the border with Israel within three months, Beirut’s foreign minister said Tuesday.

The ceasefire agreement came after nearly 14 months of conflict sparked by Hezbollah’s unprovoked launching of near-daily attacks on Israeli border communities starting October 8, 2023 — a day after fellow Iran-backed group Hamas stormed southern Israel, sparking the Gaza war.

The Hezbollah attacks displaced some 60,000 residents of northern Israel. In a bid to secure their return, Israel stepped up operations in Lebanon in September 2024, decimating Hezbollah’s leadership.