Hezbollah leader Nasrallah threatens to widen attacks on Israel; IDF takes out senior terrorist in Lebanon

No Hezbollah attacks on Thursday allegedly due to Shi'ite holiday

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Hezbollah will launch attacks on Israeli towns that haven’t been targeted yet, according to threats from Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese terror organization, on Wednesday.

Israel Defense Forces eliminated a senior operative in another terror group allied with Hezbollah in central Lebanon.

Speaking during a celebration of the Shi’ite Muslim Ashura holiday, Nasrallah said: “Continuing to target civilians will push the Resistance [Hezbollah] to launch missiles at settlements that were not previously targeted.” The reference pointed to the alleged killing of five civilians, including three children, by Israeli strikes the day before. In his televised speech, he added that there was currently no proposal prepared for a truce with Israel yet, only drafts and ideas.

Nasrallah said the Lebanese terror group would conduct negotiations as soon as there was a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel, threatening his group would continue attacking Israel without fear until then.

He also mentioned recent reports in Israeli media stating that the IDF was dealing with a shortage of tanks, warning that Israel may not have tanks left if it decided to invade southern Lebanon.

Over the past 24 hours, Hezbollah hasn't claimed any attacks against Israel as the Shi’ite Muslim group is observing the Ashura Holiday.

The IDF announced on Thursday that it eliminated Muhammad Jabara, a senior commander in the Jama’a Islamiya organization that is allegedly working closely with the Hamas branch in Lebanon. Jabara was reportedly eliminated in the village of Ghazzeh, in the Beka’a Valley region.

“As part of his role, Jabara was entrusted with advancing and executing terrorist plans and launches from Lebanon to Israeli territory, some of them in cooperation with the terrorist organization Jama’a Islamiya in Lebanon. His elimination harms the ability of the terror organization Hamas to promote and carry out acts of terrorism against the State of Israel on the northern border, as it has done in recent times,” the IDF stated.

במהלך היום מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו תשתית צבאית של חיזבאללה במרחב עין א-תינה, וכן בוצעה תקיפה נוספת של שתי עמדות צבאיות של הארגון במרחבים אל קצורה ומרימין.

בנוסף, הכוחות תקפו בארטילריה את מרחב בליידא להסרת איום pic.twitter.com/G5XqxH5oWK
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 18, 2024

The IDF also struck a Hezbollah building in Aitaroun and a rocket launcher in Rab al-Thalathine on Wednesday evening.

On Thursday afternoon, the IDF struck military infrastructure around Ein a-Tina, and attacked two of Hezbollah’s military positions near al-Katsoura and Marimine.

מטוסי קרב תקפו לפני זמן קצר תשתית טרור של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב עיתרון, ומשגר ששימש את הארגון במרחב רב א-תלתין שבדרום לבנון pic.twitter.com/3IAnYf91WJ
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 17, 2024

Army Radio military correspondent Doron Kadosh harshly criticized the restraint of the IDF’s attacks on Thursday out of an apparent respect for the Shi’ite holiday.

“Today is Ashura - a day of fasting and mourning for the Shi’ites. They did not fire into our territory, so the IDF cooperates with it and it also hardly attacks,” Kadosh wrote on Telegram.

“This was also the case during the matriculation exams in South Lebanon, when Hezbollah maintained relative silence and the IDF barely attacked, allowing the high school students in South Lebanon to take their matriculation exams almost unhindered.”

“And so it was also during the days of the Feast of the Sacrifice when Hezbollah maintained relative silence and the IDF hardly attacked. Hezbollah determines the height of the flames when it is convenient for it, and the IDF cooperates.”

“And on our side? On Shavuot, Hezbollah fired 200 rockets into Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee while thousands were on the beaches. More than 60,000 residents have been out of their homes for more than 9 months. There are no holidays, there is no routine, and there are barely even matriculation exams,” Kadosh wrote.