The IDF on Thursday carried out a series of strikes on terrorist infrastructure and several weapon storage facilities belonging to Hezbollah's Radwan Force in southern Lebanon.
"The Hezbollah terrorist organization, and specifically the Radwan Force, continues in their attempts to reestablish terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon, intended to harm the State of Israel," the IDF stated.
According to the IDF, the weapons storage facilities were constructed in the center of civilian-populated areas. "This is yet another example of the Hezbollah terrorist organization's strategy to cynically and brutally exploit Lebanese civilians as human shields as it operates out of civilian areas," the military added.
The IDF stressed that the presence of terrorist infrastructure and the weapons storage facilities that were struck constituted a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon, while endangering the civilians in the area.
Before the strikes commenced, IDF Arabic-Language Spokesman Avichay Adraee issued an urgent warning to residents of southern Lebanon, stating that the IDF would soon strike military infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah "to deal with the prohibited attempts carried out to rebuild its activities in the region."
The spokesman singled out buildings in Al-Tayyiba and Tayr Debba, calling them to evacuate and adding: "You are located near buildings used by Hezbollah, and for your safety, you are required to evacuate them immediately and stay away from them by a distance of at least 500 meters. Remaining in the area of the marked buildings exposes you to danger."
Shortly after the first wave of strikes, Adraee issued another warning ahead of a second wave of strikes. The second warning called on those in Zoutar al-Sharqiya to evacuate.
Earlier Thursday, the IDF struck terrorists who were operating at a terrorist infrastructure site belonging to Hezbollah's Construction Unit in the Tyre area in southern Lebanon.
The infrastructure site was used to manufacture equipment employed by Hezbollah terrorists to rebuild the terrorist infrastructure that had been previously targeted and dismantled during the war. The IDF stressed that "these actions of Hezbollah terrorists at the infrastructure site constituted a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon."
Senior IDF officers told reporters, “We are continuing the same approach in Lebanon of aggressive enforcement. There has been no change in the policy of the past year. This is a continuation of the ongoing effort to prevent Hezbollah’s reconstruction, not an escalation of the situation.”
The IDF is preparing for the possibility of a Hezbollah response to the strikes, including several days of fighting, but emphasizes that “there are no longer equations or symmetry.” According to the IDF, any action by the organization will be met with a severe response. There is no change in the instructions for northern residents.