Hezbollah claimed to have fired dozens of Katyusha rockets toward northern Israel on Thursday night just hours after Arab media reported that a senior Hezbollah military commander Abbas al Dabs, known by his nickname Hajj Abdullah, was targeted in an alleged Israeli drone strike in Nabatieh in southern Lebanon on Thursday afternoon.
Some reports also mentioned another Hezbollah operative as being hit in the attack, while others mentioned multiple other persons being wounded. While originally most reports said that at least two people were killed, Lebanese media later reported that the two were only injured and were in stable condition as of Thursday evening.
According to Saudi media al-Hadath, al Dabs coordinated air defense issues with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including in Syria.
דיווח בלבנון על תקיפת כטב"ם לעבר רכב בעיר נבטיה בדרום לבנון, צפונית לליטני@OmerShahar123 pic.twitter.com/HcIFdXMK6D
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) February 8, 2024
תיעוד | כך נראה במצלמות האבטחה רגע החיסול של מפקד חיזבאללה בא-נבטיה, דרום לבנון@N12News pic.twitter.com/0BfhD5Skql
— ספיר ליפקין | Sapir Lipkin | سابير ليبكين (@sapirlipkin) February 8, 2024
Also, he was said to be in charge of the units which fired on Kiryat Shmona earlier Thursday.
Three IDF soldiers wounded, one seriously, in Hezbollah attack
In that attack, Hezbollah fired numerous anti-tank missiles into the areas of Kiryat Shmona, Biranit, and Mt. Hermon in northern Israel, with at least one soldier being seriously wounded.
The soldier was wounded when an anti-tank missile landed near Kiryat Shmona. Two other soldiers were lightly wounded in the incident.
IDF strikes Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. February 9, 2024. (Credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
The wounded were evacuated to a medical center.
In an initial response, IDF fighter jets struck at Hezbollah terror infrastructure and a military compound in the area of Khiam in southern Lebanon, from which the missiles were fired toward Kiryat Shmona.
In response, IDF fighter jets struck at Hezbollah terror infrastructure and a military compound in the area of Khiam in southern Lebanon, from which the missiles were fired toward Kiryat Shmona.
An anti-tank missile also hit a house in Kiryat Shmona on Thursday morning. The IDF responded with artillery fire, the military stated. However, the IDF appeared to have viewed the direct hit on IDF soldiers at an IDF base as requiring a more serious response to deter Hezbollah from such actions, allegedly leading to the killing of the senior Hezbollah official.
On Thursday night, after the reported drone strike in Nabatieh, Hezbollah claimed that it fired dozens of Katyusha rockets in an attempt to target a base in northern Israel, with rocket sirens sounding in the area at about the same time. Hezbollah said that the barrage was fired in response to the strike in Nabatieh.
Air Force chief: Hezbollah continues to lose its forces
Only hours after reports of the Hezbollah official’s assassination likely from the air, the IDF on Thursday issued a speech by Air Force Chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar in which he said that Hezbollah continues to lose its forces.
Bar said that the air force currently has dozens of aircraft in southern Lebanon airspace - a possible not-so-thinly veiled hint of an airstrike on the Hezbollah officials.
Moreover, he said that in a matter of minutes, the air force could jump the number of aircraft from dozens to hundreds if the operational need arose, such as in the event of a larger conflict with the Lebanese terror group.
Although Bar apparently gave the speech earlier in the week, the timing for which the IDF distributed the speech appeared to be telling.
An anti-tank missile also hit a building in Kiryat Shmona earlier on Thursday morning.
The IDF responded to that attack with artillery fire.
Elsewhere, the IDF is continuing to fight in western Khan Yunis in addition to the northern and central parts of the Gaza Strip, and has successfully arrested and eliminated terrorists who participated in the October 7 massacre, according to the IDF.
Combat soldiers from the Commando Unit are continuing to engage in intense fighting within western Khan Yunis. Since Wednesday, the unit has arrested dozens of suspects of terrorism, including two who were involved in the October 7 attacks.
Maglan special forces killed three terrorists, two at close range and one on a school roof via gunfire.
However, the fighting has slowed sufficiently in Gaza that portions of the paratroopers brigade were given a break from fighting and others may be reassigned from Khan Yunis, where they had been fighting, to other defense duties across the country.
Although the IDF maintains that Gaza is still an active war zone and that “mopping up” operations against an expected Hamas insurgency could extend through 2024, the partial release of portions of the paratroopers brigade signals that all or most of Khan Yunis is now under IDF operational control.
Despite that progress, Hamas managed to fire a small number of rockets on the South, with sirens at Sderot, Nahal Oz, Nir Am, and Ivim.