(JNS) The Israel Defense Forces struck more than 100 Hezbollah targets throughout Lebanon on Sunday, including a Beirut compound used by the Iranian-backed terror army’s elite Radwan Force, the military said.
The compound in the capital’s southern suburbs of Dahieh was being used as a command center and training facility, according to the IDF, which said it was used to prepare attacks on Israeli troops and civilians.
The Radwan Force is the Hezbollah unit tasked with infiltrating Israel, seizing areas along the northern border and abducting hostages as part of the terrorist group’s “Conquer the Galilee” plan.
In another strike in the Beqaa Valley, the IDF killed Mustafa Ahmad al-Zein, a Hezbollah operative who was said to have maintained close relations with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force.
“In the past few years, al-Zein had resided in Iran, from where he managed his ongoing activities that supported the advancement of terrorist activities against the State of Israel,” the IDF said.
The IDF took steps to mitigate harm to civilians, including “the issuing of advance warnings, the use of precise munitions, and aerial surveillance,” the statement added.
“The IDF is operating with determination against the Hezbollah terror group as a result of the terrorist organization’s decision to deliberately attack Israel on behalf of the Iranian regime, and will not tolerate any harm to the residents of the State of Israel,” the army said.
יותר מ-100 תקיפות בוצעו ביממה האחרונה ברחבי לבנון: צה”ל תקף מתחם של יחידת ‘כוח רדואן’ בדאחייה שבביירות
צה”ל ממשיך לתקוף תשתיות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה, הותקפו מחסני אמצעי לחימה ועשרות אתרים צבאיים.
בדאחייה שבביירות, הותקפו מפקדה ומתחם אימונים של מחבלי יחידת ‘כוח רדואן’. מחבלי… pic.twitter.com/1Oq7vmsXxx
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 8, 2026
Hezbollah began firing missiles and UAVs at the Jewish state on March 2, in retaliation for the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. He was slain by an Israeli Air Force strike on his Tehran compound in the opening shot of “Operation Roaring Lion/Epic Fury” on Feb. 28.
Since March 2, the IDF has struck more than 600 terrorist targets across Lebanon “from the air, sea and ground,” according to the most recent IDF data, released on Sunday afternoon.
The IDF carried out 27 waves of strikes in the Beirut area, including five in the capital’s suburbs of Dahieh, a Hezbollah stronghold, the military said.
Overnight on Saturday, the IDF carried out a precision strike targeting a meeting of the IRGC’s Lebanon Corps and Palestine Corps at a Beirut hotel, the military said on Sunday. Three Quds Force commanders were killed in the strike, in what the IDF called a “significant and necessary blow” to Tehran’s presence in Lebanon and to its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah.
The IDF named the slain operatives as Majid Hassini, responsible for funding Hezbollah, Hamas and other terrorist groups; Ali Reza Bi-Azar, head of intelligence for the Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps; and Ahmad Rasouli, an intelligence officer of the Quds Force’s Palestine Corps.
Hossein Ahmadlou, an intelligence operative “who worked to gather intelligence on the State of Israel for terrorist purposes,” and Abu Mohammad Ali, a Hezbollah operative who coordinated with the IRGC’s Palestine Corps, were also killed, according to the IDF.
The military said that it would not allow the Islamic regime “to establish themselves in Lebanon” and vowed to “continue to precisely eliminate the commanders of the Iranian terror regime wherever they operate.”
OC Home Front Command Maj. Gen. Shai Klapper (second from left) and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (third from left) at Home Front Command headquarters in Ramle, March 8, 2026. Credit: IDF.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir told the army’s Home Front Command on Sunday that Hezbollah, which he described as “an extremist arm of the Iranian octopus,” would pay a “heavy price.”
“Overnight, we operated against Iranian Quds Force commanders in Lebanon, in Beirut, and targeted them. I tell you that there is no safe place for the Iranian axis of evil anywhere in the Middle East—not in Beirut and not anywhere else,” Zamir said during a visit to the Home Front Command headquarters in Ramle.
The chief of staff noted that there had been “significant fire toward the communities of northern Israel.” He added, “there was also an incident during the night,” referencing the death of two troops in Lebanon.
“I wish to send my condolences to the families of the fallen and wish a speedy recovery to our wounded. Hezbollah is an extremist arm of the Iranian octopus. It’s paying, and will continue to pay, a heavy price.”
IDF Sgt. 1st Class Maher Khatar and a second soldier, whose name had not been cleared for publication on Monday morning, were killed on Sunday by mortar fire or an anti-tank missile while carrying out defensive operations at a military position in Southern Lebanon.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, in a statement on Sunday evening extended their condolences to “the families of two Combat Engineering fighters, Sgt. 1st Class Maher Khatar and another soldier whose name has not yet been cleared for publication.
“Maher, of blessed memory, a brave fighter from the Druze community, served as an example and inspiration to the youth of Majdal Shams [in the Golan Heights] who enlist in the ranks of the IDF, a growing trend in recent years that serves as an expression of the eternal covenant between us,” they stated.
The slain men “fought heroically to protect our communities and our citizens against the Hezbollah terrorist organization,” the Netanyahus said in the statement. “We bow our heads at their falling and remain committed to the defense of our northern border against any threat.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday also conveyed his “deepest condolences to the family of Sgt. 1st Class Maher Khatar—of blessed memory—a dear and beloved family.”
The IDF “will complete the mission and bring better days for the entire people of Israel,” vowed the head of state, adding,: “Be strong and of good courage, people of Israel.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog during a visit to Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, March 8, 2026. Photo by Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO.
Amid Hezbollah’s ongoing missile and drone attacks on northern communities, Herzog toured the border on Sunday.
Herzog began his visit at the Mateh Asher Regional Council in the Western Galilee, where he was briefed by council head Moshe Davidovich. He then visited Galilee Medical Center and met with soldiers wounded fighting in the north.
The head of state concluded his tour in the city of Nahariya, where he visited a municipal operations center and met Mayor Ronen Marley.
“I came here today to strengthen and encourage the residents of the north,” Herzog said, adding that “these are not easy days” for them.
“We want to say to the residents of the north: We stand with you with all our strength. In recent days, you have been on the front line,” he said.
“We know that Hezbollah is trying to attack, and we are responding with full force to anyone who dares threaten our security,” Herzog said.
Netanyahu warned Beirut on Saturday that if it fails to uphold the Nov. 26, 2024, truce, which requires it to disarm Hezbollah, the terrorists’ aggression “will bring catastrophic consequences upon Lebanon.
“It is time for you, too, to take your destiny into your hands,” he told the Lebanese government, vowing that “in any case,” Jerusalem will do “everything necessary to protect our communities and our citizens.”
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