IDF says senior Hezbollah commanders hit in strikes, warns terror group will pay ‘heavy price’ for attacks

By Emanuel Fabian

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2 March 2026, 10:21 am

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Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese area of Deir Seryan on March 2, 2026. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)

IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin says Hezbollah will pay a “heavy price” for attacking Israel overnight.

“Hezbollah opened fire; it chose to start a campaign. It will pay a heavy price,” Defrin says in a press conference.

Defrin says the IDF, in response, struck dozens of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including in Beirut.

“We struck dozens of command centers and rocket launch sites belonging to the organization. We struck senior commanders, among the last remaining top officials still alive in that organization,” he says, adding that the results of the strikes are under review.

Additional strikes will be conducted in south Lebanon later, he says, after the IDF issued evacuation warnings in dozens of villages.