Lebanese media reported Friday evening that two people were killed in a new wave of Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, while Iran launched ballistic missiles toward Jordan in a separate escalation that produced interceptions visible from northern Israel.
According to Lebanese reports, two people riding a motorcycle were killed in a strike in the village of Roumine. Other targets were reportedly struck in the Nabatieh area and Al-Fawqa. Shortly afterward, people spending time around the Sea of Galilee filmed interceptions in the sky.
Interceptions seen over the Sea of Galilee
(Video: Kfir Bazak)
The IDF said the interceptions were taking place over Jordan but appeared from northern Israel to be directly overhead.
Iranian media initially reported a “powerful explosion in Jordan.” Iran’s Fars News Agency and the Saudi outlet Al Hadath later reported that missiles had been fired toward a U.S. base in the kingdom.
The strike in the village of Roumine
The Israeli strikes in Lebanon come as contacts with the Lebanese government continue.
Only a day earlier, five prisoners were released and returned to Lebanon.
At the same time, Lebanese authorities are searching for the remains of former leaders of the country’s Jewish community who were abducted and murdered by terrorist organizations during the 1980s.
The latest strikes in Lebanon also come against the backdrop of the IDF’s operation on the Ali Taher Ridge, a strategic Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon.
On Thursday, after Reuters reported that Iran had threatened to “respond forcefully” to Israeli activity on the ridge, the IDF released details of the operation and its objectives. Israeli security officials said that although IDF troops had trapped dozens of Hezbollah terrorists inside the complex, there was no basis for Iran’s claim that members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had also been caught there.
Israeli troops identified openings through which Hezbollah terrorists could escape from the underground complex, placed them under surveillance and prevented attempts by the organization to assist those trapped inside from the outside.
Hezbollah initially tried to transfer equipment to its men, but security officials said the difficulty increased as the operation continued, creating pressure inside the organization.
During the fighting, Israeli forces positioned around the exits exchanged fire with Hezbollah terrorists attempting to escape and killed dozens, according to the IDF. The military said troops established operational control through ambushes, fire on tunnel shafts, grenades, drones and other strikes.
Although Iranian officials have continued to claim that dozens of Iranians and Lebanese remain trapped there, the IDF said Thursday that the clearing of Hezbollah’s underground infrastructure on Ali Taher Ridge had been completed and that all terrorists inside had either been killed or escaped.
“The operation to neutralize the underground infrastructure that was cleared of terrorists is continuing, and once it is completed, the IDF will redeploy in a renewed defensive posture,” the military said.
According to the IDF, the underground complex contained command centers, weapons rooms, generator rooms, living quarters, showers and a kitchen, allowing Hezbollah forces to conduct combat operations and remain underground for extended periods.
The military described it as “strategic infrastructure built over two decades, financed and planned by the Iranian terror regime.”
First published: 20:06, 09.04.26