Israeli forces launched an attack on the central headquarters of Hezbollah near Beirut on Friday, leveling several buildings in a series of missile strikes.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Sep. 27 that it conducted the strikes against Hezbollah in an area of suburbs just south of the Lebanese capital.
“Moments ago, the Israel Defense Forces carried out a precise strike on the central headquarters of the Hezbollah terror organization that served as the epicenter of Hezbollah’s terror,” IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a televised address.
“After almost a year of Hezbollah firing rockets, missiles, and suicide drones at Israeli civilians, after almost a year of Israel warning the world and telling them that Hezbollah must be stopped, Israel is … taking the necessary action to protect our people so that Israeli families can live in their homes, safely and securely.”
News of the strike came less than an hour after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech to the U.N. General Assembly in New York City vowing to continue fighting Hezbollah until the organization was no longer a threat to Israel.
“Israel has every right to remove this threat and return our citizens to their homes safely,” Netanyahu said.
“And that’s exactly what we’re doing … we’ll continue degrading Hezbollah until all our objectives are met.”
It was not immediately clear how many casualties resulted from the operation. The IDF said that there was no change to its defensive guidelines.
Hezbollah began attacking Israel almost immediately after the Hamas-led terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year.
Fighting between Israel and the Lebanese terrorist group has driven tens of thousands of people from their homes on both sides of the border in the time since.
Israel has moved in the past week to escalate its efforts to eliminate Hezbollah’s most senior leadership and, on Sep. 24, carried out its deadliest strike in Lebanon since a month-long war with Hezbollah in 2006.
Lebanese authorities said the strikes killed more than 490 people, including at least 90 women and children, and injured 1,600 more. The Epoch Times could not independently verify those figures.
Netanyahu has called on Lebanese civilians to evacuate areas near the border or those that could be targeted due to Hezbollah’s presence.
Hezbollah, like Hamas in Gaza, locates its facilities within civilian infrastructure, which makes targeting them difficult without also killing noncombatants.
The strikes also closely followed funerals in Lebanon attended by thousands, which marked the passing of three Hezbollah members, including the group’s drone unit chief.
Hagari said that the main Hezbollah headquarters had been located beneath residential buildings.
It is unclear at this time whether residents of those buildings received the type of prior warning Israel often gives to residents in Gaza.
The scope of Israel’s operation in Lebanon remains unclear, but officials have said a ground invasion to push the terrorist group away from the border is a possibility.
Israel has moved thousands of troops toward the border in preparation for such an eventuality.
Netanyahu’s comments at the United Nations have dampened hopes for a U.S.-backed call for a 21-day truce between Israel and Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has not responded to the proposal.
Netanyahu has vowed to dismantle Hamas’s military and political regime in Gaza, but in Lebanon, has thus far restrained Israeli military objectives to pushing Hezbollah away from the border and putting an end to the daily rocket attacks against Israeli civilians.
The IDF said it carried out dozens of other strikes in southern Lebanon on Sept. 27, including in the cities of Sidon and Nabatieh. It said it was targeting Hezbollah rocket launchers and infrastructure.
Israel says its accelerated strikes this week have inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah’s weapons capabilities and killed a number of its top commanders.
Hussein Fadlallah, head of Hezbollah in Beirut, said in a speech that the group has an endless supply of fighters and will continue fighting until Israel halts its offensive against Hamas in Gaza.
“There is no place for neutrality in this battle,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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