IDF kills top Hezbollah commander in first strike in Beirut in almost a month

Israel on Wednesday evening carried out its first airstrike in Beirut since before the ceasefire in Lebanon entered into effect last month, killing the commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, who the military said had advanced plans to invade the Galilee.

Hezbollah and Israel have continued to attack each other since US President Donald Trump first announced a ceasefire on April 16, which has now largely unraveled, though fighting remains at a lower level than before.

After the Israeli Air Force struck the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, a Hezbollah stronghold, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a joint statement saying, “The IDF has just struck in Beirut the commander of the Radwan Force in the Hezbollah terror organization to eliminate him.”

The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday morning confirmed that Ahmed Ghaleb Balout, the Radwan Force commander, was killed in the strike. The IDF also published footage of the attack.

The military said that for years, Balout held several roles in the Radwan Force, including previously serving as its chief of operations.

While there was no immediate comment from Hezbollah, a source close to the terror group told AFP on Wednesday night that “Malek Balout, the operations commander in the Radwan Force,” was killed in the Israeli strike, apparently referring to the same commander.

An Israeli airstrike targets the commander of Hezbollah’s Radwan Force in Beirut, May 6, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

During the war and recently, Balout directed “dozens” of attacks against IDF troops in southern Lebanon, including anti-tank guided missile fire and explosives, the military said.

The IDF said Balout had also “advanced efforts to restore the capabilities of the Radwan Force unit, particularly the implementation of the ‘Conquer the Galilee’ plan,” referring to the terror group’s plans to invade Israel, which did not materialize.

Netanyahu and Katz said Radwan Force operatives “were responsible for firing [rockets] at Israeli communities and harming IDF soldiers.”

“No terrorist has immunity, Israel’s long arm will reach every enemy and murderer. We promised to bring security to the residents of the north. This is how we act, and this is how we will continue to act,” they added.

The strike marked the first in the Lebanese capital in almost a month, with the last having been on April 8 — after Trump asked Israel to stop targeting Beirut.

Additionally, the military said two more prominent Hezbollah commanders were killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Wednesday.

They were identified by the military as Muhammad Ali Bazi, chief of intelligence in Hezbollah’s Nasr regional division; and Hussein Hassan Romani, head of aerial defense in the terror group.

“These commanders worked to advance and carry out terror attack plans against IDF troops and Israeli citizens,” the military said.

Since the start of the ceasefire in Lebanon on April 16, the IDF said it has killed over 220 Hezbollah operatives who had posed a threat to troops and Israeli civilians.

Earlier on Wednesday, seven Israeli soldiers were injured in Hezbollah explosive drone attacks in southern Lebanon, as the Iran-backed terror group continued to launch attacks on troops and on northern communities.

According to the IDF, Hezbollah launched several explosive drones and rockets at Israeli troops stationed in southern Lebanon throughout the day.

In one incident, a soldier was seriously wounded, and three more were lightly hurt by an explosive drone. One more soldier was severely wounded in another attack. And in the morning hours, two drones exploded near Israeli forces, injuring one soldier moderately and another lightly.

All seven troops were taken to hospitals, and their families were notified, the army said.

In other incidents on Wednesday, rockets and drones struck near forces in the army’s Lebanon buffer zone without causing injuries, while a drone launched by Hezbollah was shot down over southern Lebanon, according to the IDF.

On Wednesday morning, an explosive drone launched by Hezbollah struck in Israeli territory. No injuries were caused in the attack.

The IDF Home Front Command said it would be extending the warning times for rocket fire from Lebanon in 49 communities in the upper, lower, and central Galilee, where currently only 30 seconds are given.

They include 46 communities moving from 30 seconds to 45 seconds, and three communities moving to a full minute. The move will take effect starting Thursday at 4 p.m., according to the Home Front Command.

The continued clashes in the north have underlined challenges facing US efforts to forge peace between Israel and Lebanon, which held rare face-to-face talks last month. Hezbollah has fiercely objected to the government’s decision to hold negotiations with Israel.

Despite the ceasefire reached between Israel and Lebanon in mid-April, which has since been extended into May, Hezbollah has fired rockets and drones at northern Israeli communities, though most attacks have been on troops in southern Lebanon or on the Israeli side of the border.

IDF launches wave of strikes; mayor’s home reportedly hit

The IDF said on Wednesday it launched a wave of airstrikes on Hezbollah infrastructure sites in several areas of southern Lebanon after issuing evacuation warnings for 12 villages in southern Lebanon.

Residents of Kaouthariyet al-Saiyad, Ghassaniyeh, Mazraat al-Daoudiyeh, Bedias, Rihan, Zellaya, Bazouriye, Harouf, Habboush, Ansariyeh, Qalaouiyeh, and Deir ez-Zahrani were instructed to evacuate at least a kilometer away.

Most of the villages are located north of the Litani River.

Lebanese media outlets reported that a strike hit the home of the mayor of the village of Zellaya, Ali Qassem.

According to the reports, women and children were among those killed and wounded.

According to Al-Manar, several members of the mayor’s family were killed and wounded. Earlier, the Lebanese Health Ministry said that four people were killed and five were wounded in the strike on the village.

In response to a query by The Times of Israel, the IDF said it had struck a weapons depot in Zellaya.

The military said it was aware of deaths caused by the strike, but stated that it had taken “steps to mitigate harm to civilians as much as possible, including the use of a precision munition and aerial surveillance.”

المنزل المستهدف في زلايا يعود لرئيس البلدية والحصيلة الأولية تشير إلى ارتقاء شه..يدين pic.twitter.com/GLwtl3l69B

— مصدر مسؤول (@fouadkhreiss) May 6, 2026

 

The IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson published the evacuation notice at 9:05 a.m. Initial posts on social media reporting strikes on the village emerged several minutes later. Official announcements regarding those killed and wounded in the strikes were published in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, the IDF said it killed several Hezbollah operatives in strikes on buildings being used by the terror group in the western sector of southern Lebanon on Tuesday.

בהכוונת כוחות חטיבה 226: צה"ל תקף מבנים ששימשו את ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה לצרכים צבאיים ומהם פעלו מחבלי הארגון בדרום לבנון

חיל האוויר בהכוונת כוחות חטיבה 226 תקף אתמול מספר מבנים ששימשו את ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה לצרכים צבאיים בדרום לבנון, במטרה לסייע לכוחות הפועלים בפיקוד אוגדה 146.… pic.twitter.com/D7LNEOtlA3

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 6, 2026

Elsewhere in southern Lebanon, the IDF said it struck 25 Hezbollah targets in the past day, including weapon depots.

Earlier, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported Israeli airstrikes in the southern Lebanon towns of Reshknanay and Safad al-Battikh. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the strikes.

Overnight, an Israeli drone strike in the town of Deir Kifa wounded three paramedics of Hezbollah’s Islamic Health Authority, according to NNA.

The latest round of fighting erupted in Lebanon when Hezbollah began attacking across the border after Israel and the US launched their joint campaign against Iran on February 28.

Israel launched massive airstrikes in Lebanon in response to the terror group’s rocket barrages, and launched an operation in southern Lebanon to establish a buffer zone to protect residents of Israel’s north.

Over 2,500 people have been killed and about a million displaced in Lebanon since March 2, according to Lebanese authorities. The IDF says it has killed over 1,900 Hezbollah operatives, including hundreds of members of the terror group’s elite Radwan Force.

Seventeen IDF soldiers and one Defense Ministry civilian contractor have been killed in southern Lebanon amid fighting against Hezbollah. Two civilians were also killed by Hezbollah rockets, and an Israeli civilian was mistakenly killed in the north by Israeli artillery shelling.