In a dramatic escalation on Tuesday afternoon, Israel conducted a wave of simultaneous airstrikes targeting 20 Hezbollah sites in the Dahiyeh neighborhood, a stronghold of the terror group in southern Beirut. The operation came mere hours before an anticipated ceasefire agreement was set to be approved by Israel’s security cabinet.
For the first time in 24 years, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also announced that its troops had advanced to the Litani River in southern Lebanon, marking a significant milestone in the conflict.
The IDF issued a wide-scale evacuation warning for 20 buildings in the targeted area before launching the strikes. Within two minutes, eight Israeli fighter jets successfully struck all 20 designated sites, according to military reports.
Seven of the targeted buildings were identified as Hezbollah financial centers, including headquarters, vaults, and branches of the Al-Qard al-Hasan association, which the IDF claims serves as a quasi-bank for the group. The remaining 13 sites included an aerial forces center, intelligence command room, weapons depots, and other military infrastructure.
Footage of the strikes was released by the IDF, showcasing the precision of the operation. Defense Minister Israel Katz authorized the continuation of offensive operations on the northern front during a high-level military briefing attended by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and other senior defense officials.
In a separate report earlier that day, Lebanese media outlets alleged that Israel carried out an airstrike in central Beirut outside Hezbollah’s stronghold. Unlike the strikes in Dahiyeh, this attack was conducted without an evacuation warning, suggesting it was an assassination attempt rather than a conventional targeting of infrastructure.