With attention on Gaza, Israel’s northern border continues to be tense as IDF strikes in Lebanon & Syria

The Israeli Air Force struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon as well as Hamas targets in Syria over the weekend, as the second deadline for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon approaches on Feb. 18.

Late Sunday evening, the IDF announced its latest strike in Lebanon that targeted "an underground tunnel in the Bekaa Valley, which runs from Syrian territory to Lebanese territory and was used by the terrorist organization Hezbollah to transfer weapons."

The IDF says the same site was already attacked in the past and the strikes aimed to prevent its reconstruction. "In addition, the planes attacked several sites of the terrorist organization containing weapons and launchers that posed an immediate threat... The attacked targets violated the agreements between Israel and Lebanon," the military added.

Lebanese media reported earlier that the IDF continues its withdrawal from the eastern sector of southern Lebanon, and that troops of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) entered the town of Rabb al-Thalathin, opposite the Israeli town of Misgav Am, on Sunday.

However, Israel’s Army Radio reported that the IDF remains deployed in numerous nearby towns and villages, and that the United States is pushing Israel to complete the withdrawal on time.

Over the weekend, U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus visited both Lebanon and Israel to oversee the progress of the ceasefire. On Sunday, she reportedly visited IDF posts in Lebanon together with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.

In recent days, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) carried out two relatively large airstrike operations deep within Lebanese territory to target Hezbollah's ceasefire violations. The IDF stressed its commitment to “remove any threat” to Israel and “prevent any attempt to reestablish and strengthen” Hezbollah.

One wave of strikes hit “two military sites containing weapons of the terrorist organization Hezbollah,” while another struck “operatives of the terrorist organization Hezbollah in the Bekaa region of Lebanon.”

The IDF said the strike “was carried out after the terrorists were identified as working at a site for the production and storage of the organization's strategic weapons. The activity at the site constitutes a blatant violation of the agreements between Israel and Lebanon.”

An Israeli source told Army Radio, “The attack follows Hezbollah's violations of the ceasefire agreement – attempts to smuggle weapons into Lebanon via the border with Syria and the establishment of Hezbollah infrastructure in the areas being attacked.”

Lebanese media reported six people killed and two wounded in the strikes in the Bekaa Valley, a region where Hezbollah maintains key strategic facilities and where the IDF has conducted intense operations in recent months.

While visiting Lebanon on Friday, Ortagus met with new Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and cautioned that the Trump administration would not accept the Hezbollah terrorist group continuing to play a significant role in the country.

“We have set clear red lines in the United States that [Hezbollah] won’t be able to terrorize the Lebanese people, and that includes by being a part of the government,” Ortagus said.

“Hezbollah was defeated by Israel and we are grateful to our ally Israel for defeating Hezbollah,” she added.

Elsewhere along Israel’s tense northern frontier, the IDF announced a rare strike in Syria on Saturday.

“Air Force fighter jets recently attacked a weapons depot in the Deir Ali area in southern Syria belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization, after the weapons were intended to carry out terrorist acts against IDF forces,” the army stated.

“The Palestinian terrorist organizations, led by Hamas, are working to establish Iranian-directed terrorist activity by exploiting Syrian soil. The IDF will continue to strike the Hamas terrorist organization wherever it tries to establish itself and will act against all attempts by terrorist organizations to establish and strengthen themselves to prevent a threat to the security of the State of Israel.”

The strike was the first in Syria since Israel carried out a massive, several days-long wave of airstrikes to destroy large parts of the Syrian army’s weapons after the fall of the Assad regime in early December 2024.