The IDF announced on Tuesday evening that it killed Daoud Ali Zadeh, the commander of the Iranian Quds Force's Lebanon Corps, in Tehran, according to an IDF statement.
Ali Zadeh was acting as the temporary replacement for Hassan Mahdavi, the former commander of the Lebanon Corps, who was eliminated in an IDF strike.
The Lebanon Corps serves as a connecting military faction between the Hezbollah terrorist organization to the Iranian regime. It supports Hezbollah's military buildup, and serves as the link between senior IRGC personnel and Hezbollah leadership.
Ali Zadeh held the rank equivalent to a brigadier general and was the highest-ranking Iranian commander responsible for operations in Lebanon.
He served in various roles, including as the Commander of the Strategic Weapons Corps within the Quds Force, where he facilitated the arming of proxies with strategic weapons. Zadeh was also an expert in enhancing the firepower capabilities of Hezbollah and other proxy groups.
He assumed this role following Operation "Northern Arrows" in September 2024 and was involved in rehabilitating the terrorist organization, as well as drawing insights for future improvements in terrorist activities targeting Israel.
Recently, he reportedly urged Hezbollah to carry out terrorist operations against the State of Israel.
Strikes on Beirut
The IDF also confirmed on Tuesday morning that it had killed a top commander in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force responsible for communication with Hezbollah and building up its weaponry, in strikes on Beirut a day prior.
Reza Khazaei served as the right-hand man to IRGC's Lebanon Corps Commander Daoud Ali Zadeh, and "was considered a key actor in the buildup of Hezbollah's capabilities," the IDF noted in a statement.
The military added that Khazaei served as a liaison between Iran and the Lebanese terror group, and was further responsible for "ensuring that Iranian supplies met the needs of Hezbollah," including overseeing smuggling operations from Iran into Lebanon, as well as weapons manufacturing programs on Lebanese soil.
Israel estimates that some 1,000-1,500 members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iranian security forces have been killed in strikes as of Monday night.
The IDF has warned any remaining Iranian representatives in Lebanon to leave immediately before being targeted.
Hezbollah joins war, prompting IDF to strike in Lebanon
IDF strikes several targets across Beirut and its southern Dahiyeh suburbs since Hezbollah entered the conflict which began when US and Israel launched strikes on the Islamic Republic on Saturday, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In response to Hezbollah rocket fire onto northern Israel, the IDF also moved soldiers deeper into southern Lebanon on Tuesday morning.
However, the IDF Northern Command said that it was unlikely to initiate a larger ground invasion into Lebanon until the situation with Iran was calmer, if at all.
IDF issues evacuation warning for southern Lebanon
The IDF's Arabic-language spokesperson, Col. Avichay Adraee, released an urgent evacuation warning for residents of Sidon in southern Lebanon on Tuesday afternoon.
Adraee announced that the IDF will soon be attacking Hezbollah infrastructure in the area and urged civilians to evacuate immediately, staying at least 300 meters away from buildings set to be targeted.
The IDF later issued an urgent evacuation warning to residents of Kafr Jouz, Harouf, and Al-Kfour villages in southern Lebanon, warning that the military will strike additional Hezbollah terror infrastructure located within the villages shortly after issuing the alert.
Yonah Jeremy Bob and Amichai Stein contributed to this report.