The IDF killed a Hezbollah terrorist who also worked for Lebanese news outlet Al Manar in an airstrike on Saturday morning.
Ali Hassan Shaib, a terrorist in the intelligence unit of Hezbollah’s Radwan Force, also worked for Al Manar, where he used his position as a journalist to expose IDF positions in southern Lebanon and along the border.
The IDF asserted that he maintained contact with terrorists within the Radwan Force and across the broader Hezbollah terrorist organization.
Al Manar stated that Shaib and another reporter, Fatima Ftouni from broadcaster Al Mayadeen, were killed when their vehicle was hit. Lebanon's information minister later said Ftouni's brother, cameraman Mohammed Ftouni, had also been killed in the strike.
Al Manar is controlled by the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, and Al Mayadeen is widely seen as editorially aligned with Iran's allies and supporters in the region.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the incident, claiming that the strike "violates the most basic principles of international law, international humanitarian law, and the laws of war."
“This is a blatant crime that violates all norms and conventions under which journalists are protected. We call on all international bodies to take action to stop what is happening on our soil," Aoun added.
IDF kills senior Hezbollah commanders in overnight strikes
Additionally, the IDF carried out overnight strikes in Lebanon that killed two senior Hezbollah commanders and damaged dozens of terror sites across the country.
In a targeted strike in Beirut on Friday, the IDF said it eliminated Ayyoub Hussein Yaacoub, a senior figure in Hezbollah’s communications unit who previously held a key role in the organization’s rocket unit and was involved in directing launches toward Israel.
Yasser Mohammad Mubarak, another senior operative in the group's communications unit, who also held a position in the rocket unit, was also killed, according to the IDF.
Separately, Israeli forces struck dozens of Hezbollah sites across southern Lebanon throughout the weekend, the military said, targeting weapons depots, launchers, and military infrastructure as part of ongoing efforts to degrade the group’s operational capabilities. The attacks were conducted from both air and sea in support of ground troops operating in the area.
On Saturday afternoon, the IDF issued an evacuation warning to several villages in southern Lebanon and urged residents to relocate north of the Zahrani River. The directive, announced by the IDF's Arabic-language spokesperson, Col. Avichay Adraee, seems to apply to multiple areas, including Rashidieh, al-Bas, and Wadi Jilo.
Three officers, six soldiers wounded since yesterday
Earlier Saturday, the IDF said that an officer was severely injured, and six soldiers sustained moderate wounds in the early hours of Saturday morning as a result of rocket fire targeting Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.
All of the injured were evacuated to hospitals for medical treatment, and their families have been notified.
In a separate incident on Friday, an IDF officer was severely wounded, and another officer moderately injured after an anti-tank missile fire struck troops operating in southern Lebanon, according to the IDF.
The incidents come amid continued Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah, where troops have faced repeated attacks, including anti-tank fire and rocket barrages.
On Thursday, the IDF announced that two soldiers had been killed in Lebanon in recent days, identifying them as Sgt. Aviad Elchanan Volansky, 21, and St.-Sgt. Ori Greenberg, 21.
IDF intensifies operations in southern Lebanon
IDF spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Effie Defrin said in a video statement released on Friday that Israel will take the necessary steps to disarm Hezbollah. Defrin criticized the Lebanese government for failing to take sufficient action, noting that “contrary to the declaration by the Lebanese government earlier this year, Hezbollah is still operating and conducting attacks from southern Lebanon.”
Earlier this week, Defense Minister Israel Katz said the IDF will occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River to create a "defensive buffer," spelling out for the first time Israel's intent to seize territory amounting to nearly a tenth of Lebanon.
At a meeting with the military chief of staff, Katz said Israeli forces would "control the remaining bridges and the security zone up to the Litani," a river that meets the Mediterranean about 30 km (20 miles) north of Israel's border.
Hezbollah, in turn, has vowed to resist Israeli actions in southern Lebanon, saying it would fight to prevent Israeli troops from occupying the region and calling such a move an "existential threat" to the Lebanese state.
Reuters contributed to this report.