IDF hunts Hezbollah operatives connected to weapons supplies in targeted strikes across Lebanon & Syria

Amid reports of the Iranian missile assault on Israel and heavy fighting between Israeli troops and Hezbollah in Lebanon, several recent reports indicate that Israel continues its efforts to target senior Hezbollah operatives, with a particular focus on disrupting the group’s weapons supply lines.

In an unprecedented incident, Israel allegedly struck Hezbollah targets early Thursday morning, reportedly near Russian military positions in Syria.

The IDF has so far avoided striking targets located near Russian military positions in Syria, typically coordinating its attacks on Iranian sites in advance.

The IDF allegedly struck a weapon depot near the Syrian port city of Lattakia overnight.

According to the pro-government Sham FM radio, Syrian air defense worked to confront "targets" over the sea in the Lattakia area.

The station later reported that firefighters were working… pic.twitter.com/81H8sbh5ZW

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 3, 2024

Syrian media reported that the strike targeted a site in the port of Jableh, close to the Russian military airport in Hmeimim, about 50 km (30 miles) north of the Russian military port of Tartus.

Footage from the site showed secondary explosions, indicating that ammunition was hit, with some reports claiming that a weapons shipment from Iran had just arrived in the location.

Israel hit a military depot in Jablah, Syria which is very close to the Russian Khmeimim Air Base, shortly after an Iranian shipment arrived at the base. This attack is extremely unusual due to the proximity to the Russians. Israel has never attacked so close to them before. pic.twitter.com/KqP3kubdNg

— Mike (@Doranimated) October 3, 2024

Later on Thursday, the IDF revealed that Hezbollah has been using the Masna civilian border crossing between Lebanon and Syria to transfer weapons.

"Last week Hezbollah carried out transfers of 'sensitive' military equipment, and last Wednesday a truck containing military equipment was attacked. The IDF is warning the Lebanese state: you can prevent Hezbollah from passing through these border crossings - carry out a strict inspection of the trucks passing through the civilian crossings," the IDF demanded.

"The IDF will not allow the transfer of weapons, and if it has to act - it will not hesitate."

On Tuesday, the IDF announced it had eliminated Muhammad Jaafar Qasir in a strike in Beirut. The Hezbollah commander was responsible for weapons transfers from Iran to Lebanon and the head of Unit 4400

Qasir was among the most important figures in the network of covert weapons transfers from Iran through Iraq and Syria to Lebanon.

Images circulating on social media following his elimination showed him meeting with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, former IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani and the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

The United States had set a reward of $10 million for Qasir's capture, among the highest among Hezbollah terrorists.

(1/4) Yesterday (October 1st), the Head of Hezbollah's Unit 4400 Mohammad Ja'afar Qasir was eliminated by the IDF in a targeted strike on Beirut. Qasir commanded Unit 4400 which conducts weapons smuggling operations from Iran through Iraq and Syria into Lebanon. In joint missions… pic.twitter.com/aVRtnrCUtg

— Israel-Alma (@IsraelAlmaorg) October 2, 2024

The IDF said Qasir “led and directed hundreds of operations to transfer strategic weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Among other things, he advanced Hezbollah’s precision missile project, and the development of Hezbollah's fire capabilities.”

The army added that he “served as commander of unit 4400 for about 15 years. In recent years, he was responsible for the field of financing in Hezbollah, and leading economic initiatives to obtain funding for the terrorist activities of the organization, such as economic projects in Lebanon and Syria, financial infrastructures and businessmen around the world.”

“In addition, he was responsible for the transfer and transportation of funds from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon, worth hundreds of millions of dollars each year.”

According to the Alma Research Center, Qasir worked in close cooperation with the regime's Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force Unit 190.

Israeli strike reported in al-Mezzah, initial reports of casualties. #Syria pic.twitter.com/xrVNNz7OgV

— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) October 2, 2024

The next day, Qasir’s brother, Hassan Jaafar Qasir, son-in-law to Hassan Nasrallah, was reportedly killed in a strike in the al-Mezzeh district of Damascus in Syria, along with two IRGC operatives.

In the same strike that killed Muhammad Jaafar Qasir, the IDF reported it also eliminated Zulfiqar Hinawi, the commander of the Iran-backed Shia militia known as the "Imam Hussein Brigade."

Hinawi was born in Lebanon and served as a senior commander in Hezbollah’s Aziz Brigade and commanded its forces in Aleppo during the Syrian Civil War.

The Imam Hussein Brigade has launched numerous rocket and drone attacks against Israel in recent months from Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, including a drone strike on a school in Israel's southern city of Eilat last November.

According to Alma, the group has partially been integrated into the Syrian Army’s 4th Division, which is commanded by Maher al-Assad, the dictator’s brother.

“The 4th Division has evolved into an Iranian proxy, reporting directly to the Quds Force, which conducts direct offensive operations against Israel and American soldiers in Syria,” Alma wrote.

According to U.S. intelligence, cited by Newsweek Magazine last year: “The Division is the Quds Force's most elite fighting force in Syria and is considered to have powerful and robust capabilities.”

Yesterday (September 29) an attack was reported in the Yafor area, northwest of Damascus. Later in the day, reports multiplied that the target that was attacked was a villa owned by Maher al-Assad, the brother of Syrian Head of State Bashar al-Assad, and commander of Division 4… pic.twitter.com/onteutDP7U

— Israel-Alma (@IsraelAlmaorg) September 30, 2024

Just two days earlier, another alleged Israeli strike targeted the division’s headquarters, located near Damascus in a villa compound belonging to Maher al-Assad.

While some reports claimed al-Assad had been killed in the strike, there has so far been no confirmation.