The IDF on Wednesday afternoon announced the elimination of the Operation Officer in Hezbollah's Aerial Unit.
The elimination was part of a Tuesday night precise strike in Beirut. In it, the IDF eliminated the unit’s Operations Officer Jafar Ali Samaha.
Samaha was responsible for directing and commanding many aerial terror operations targeting the Israeli home front. He was also responsible for coordination between Hezbollah's various units. He served as the deputy commander of Unit 127 and a senior officer in it for over ten years.
Nearly two months ago, on September 26th, 2024, the IDF eliminated the commander of the Aerial Unit, Muhammad Hussein Sarour ("Abu Saleh"), in Beirut. Approximately one month later, the IDF targeted and eliminated Khadr Al-Abed Bahja, the officer responsible for the unit’s Northern Litani sector.
In recent years, the Hezbollah terrorist organization has established several military assets for its Aerial Unit (127) across Lebanon. These assets were used to manufacture and store hundreds of UAVs and cruise missiles of various types intended to be used in attacks on Israel and were systematically concealed within civilian villages and buildings.
The unit, established under Iranian leadership, received UAVs, cruise missiles, and production components from Iran, alongside training for its operatives. The Aerial Unit is responsible for numerous aerial terror attacks using UAVs that targeted Israel’s home front.
Since the beginning of the war, and specifically as part of Operation Northern Arrows, the IAF, guided by the Intelligence Directorate and the IAF, conducted a comprehensive effort to dismantle the Aerial Unit’s terror infrastructure. As part of these operations, the Air Force conducted strikes on numerous assets of the unit, including over 150 UAV launch positions, approximately 20 weapons storage facilities containing UAVs and cruise missiles, approximately 30 command centers used by the unit and approximately four manufacturing workshops for UAVs and cruise missiles.
Alongside the efforts to dismantle the unit’s personnel, commanders and capabilities, the IDF addressed the UAV threat since the outbreak of the war, with the goal of identifying and neutralizing aerial threats against Israel. In recent months, hundreds of explosive UAVs that Hezbollah launched towards Israel were intercepted. The Israeli Air Force continues to enhance its defensive systems to ensure the safety of Israel’s citizens.
It was thanks to these strikes that the IAF succeeded in destroying 70% of the unit’s stockpile of UAVs and approximately 30 cruise missiles meant to attack citizens of the State of Israel, the IDF added.
