Hezbollah has begun withdrawing its special Radwan forces from southern Lebanon over the weekend, amid fears over a surprise IDF attack and escalation of the conflict in Israel's northern border, according to Israeli media.
The IDF received intelligence suggesting that Hezbollah forces were partially moved from Lebanon's south to its north, mostly due to the high number of casualties suffered by the Lebanese terror organization since October 8, when it started targeting northern Israeli border towns in the wake of the October 7 massacre.
At least 123 Hezbollah terrorists have been killed by IDF precision strikes along the Lebanese border in two months, the terrorist organization said on Saturday.
Thousands of Hezbollah terrorists moved from Israel's northern border
As per the report, thousands of Hezbollah operatives from different branches of the Shi’ite terror group's armed wing were also repositioned further away from Israeli territory, in addition to the elite Radwan forces.
It is not clear if this withdrawal of forces is temporary or permanent, Israeli defense establishment officials told Walla!, adding that they believe the withdrawal was carried out with the intention of limiting the number of casualties among the Radwan special forces.
The Radwan is seen by Hezbollah's leadership, chiefly director-general Hassan Nasrallah, as a valuable strategic asset, as per the sources.
IDF targets Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon, carries out preemptive strikes
IDF fighter jets struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon in response to rocket fire on northern Israeli border towns earlier on Sunday, the Israeli military stated.
Israeli artillery forces struck the source of the rocket fire, the IDF said. In addition, the military carried out several preemptive strikes to remove threats along the northern border.