IDF kills senior Hezbollah commander, fends off drone attacks from Lebanon

Fighting picks up after short lull on Wednesday

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Amid a flurry of targeted strikes, the IDF eliminated a senior commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Unit and several other terrorists in southern Lebanon, Israel Defense Forces announced Thursday.

Israeli forces carried out several intelligence-guided precision strikes on Hezbollah terrorists after a lull in the exchanges of fire, apparently due to the Shi’ite Muslim holiday of Ashura on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the IDF announced it eliminated Ali Jaafar Maatuk, a commander in the Radwan Unit, as well as Hassan Ali Mahana, a senior engineer in the terror group.

The Israeli military also said it shot down at least two Hezbollah drones on Thursday, and another on Friday morning.

While warning sirens were triggered in several areas of northern Israel, the attacks did not result in any casualties or serious damage.

Mahana was killed in the first targeted strike of the day. According to the IDF, he “served as an officer in the engineering unit in the Qana sector of the terror organization and as part of his role took part in the planning and execution of a variety of terrorist operations against the State of Israel.”

Hassan Ali Mahana, born in 1984, and operating in Hezbollah's engineering unit, was killed today (July 18) in the village of Jbal al Botm. Mahana's car was hit in an initial attack and Mahana managed to get out of the car, but a second attack hit him outside his car. Near the… pic.twitter.com/SJ6XTzvvjn
— Israel-Alma (@Israel_Alma_org) July 18, 2024

The Alma Research Center said when his car was first hit, Mahana managed to escape but he was struck again shortly after and killed. The location of the strike was near the village of Jabal al-Botm, near a closed Hezbollah military zone.

“In southern Lebanon, there are dozens of such zones used by Hezbollah for training, weapon storage, launch sites, and more,” Alma wrote.

Yesterday (July 18) Ali Jaafar Maatuk (also known as Habib Maatuk), a senior operative of the Radwan unit, was killed in an airstrike. Maatuk was born in 1978 and comes from the village of Sir in southern Lebanon. His assassination was carried out as part of an attack on two… pic.twitter.com/MBc70y0UAD
— Israel-Alma (@Israel_Alma_org) July 19, 2024

Later in the day, another airstrike eliminated Maatuk and another field commander of the Radwan Unit. The two were killed in a strike on a Radwan headquarters in the Jmaijmeh region.

“The terrorists carried out several attacks against Israeli territory. In addition, a number of other terrorists from the Radwan force who were operating in the buildings were killed in the attack,” the IDF stated.

Radwan is an elite Hezbollah unit that has boasted for years that it would invade Israel's Galilee region.

מטוסי קרב תקפו הערב מפקדה של כוח רדואן בה שהו מחבלים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב ג׳מיג׳מה, לצד מפקדה נוספת של הארגון במרחב מג׳דל סלם>> pic.twitter.com/XyD7rAHQnR
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 18, 2024

The IDF struck another Hezbollah headquarters nearby, which resulted in 12 wounded, Lebanese media reported.

“In the attacks, another operative in Radwan at a command level (Muhammad Hasan Metzatfa) was killed. According to various reports, Maatuk replaced Ali Ahmed Hasin (known as Abbas Jaafar), who was the commander of the Hajir sector in the Radwan unit and was eliminated on April 8,” Alma wrote.