On Sunday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said, “Hezbollah is playing with fire, and the president of Lebanon is dragging his feet,” he said. “The Lebanese government\u2019s commitment to dismantle Hezbollah\u2019s weapons and remove it from southern Lebanon must be realized. Enforcement will continue and deepen \u2014 we will not allow a threat to the residents of the north.”<\/p>\n
His warning comes as Fox News Digital has learned that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is weighing broader operations against the Iran-backed terrorist group after repeated violations of the truce.<\/p>\n
A senior IDF officer stationed on the northern border told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that Hezbollah remains fully armed and funded by Iran.<\/p>\n
TRUMP ADMIN PRESSURES LEBANON TO DISARM HEZBOLLAH AS ENVOY CALLS NATION \u2018FAILED STATE\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Israeli soldiers take part in an IDF exercise to enhance operational readiness along the Lebanon border in Oct. 2025. (IDF)<\/p>\n “Hezbollah didn\u2019t give up their heavy weapons,” the officer said. “They\u2019re still trained, still financed by Iran<\/a>, and still trying to re-establish their positions. Our job is to make sure they don\u2019t succeed.”<\/p>\n On Monday, the IDF confirmed it had killed two Hezbollah commanders in southern Lebanon. Muhammad Ali Hadid, a senior member of Hezbollah\u2019s elite Radwan Force<\/a>, was eliminated in Nabatieh, while another operative was struck in Ayta ash Shab after being seen collecting intelligence on Israeli positions.<\/p>\n “The terrorists\u2019 activities violated the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” the IDF said in a statement. “The IDF will continue to operate to remove any threat to the State of Israel.”<\/p>\n The senior officer said the operations reflect Israel\u2019s new, proactive security doctrine. “If somebody threatens us, we take control of the situation and make the threat go away,” he said. “We pushed Hezbollah back, so civilians could return. Now we\u2019re fortifying those gains and acting to prevent their recovery.”<\/p>\n That, he added, is the lesson Israel learned from Oct. 7. “Until then, we sometimes looked the other way. That\u2019s over. We\u2019re not sitting and waiting for the next rocket.”<\/p>\n A flag bearing the picture of assassinated pro-Iranian Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah flutters in front of a picture of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during a ceremony marking the first anniversary of Nasrallah\u2019s assassination in an Israeli airstrike at his grave in Beirut. Beirut, Lebanon, Sept. 27, 2025. (Marwan Naamani\/picture-alliance\/dpa\/AP Images)<\/p>\n The officer said the IDF\u2019s 91st Division recently completed its largest exercise since the start of the war, designed to strengthen operational readiness for both defense and offensive operations along the Lebanese border \u2014 at sea, in the air, and on land.<\/p>\n “We tested our defensive systems, coordination, and rapid-response capabilities,” he said. “We\u2019re applying every lesson from Oct. 7 so our response next time will be immediate.”<\/p>\n Israeli soldiers take part in an IDF exercise to enhance operational readiness along the Lebanon border in Oct. 2025 (IDF)<\/p>\n According to Israel\u2019s Haaretz newspaper, intelligence officials believe Hezbollah is rapidly rebuilding its arsenal<\/a> with Iranian assistance. The group has partially restored its weapons supply chain through Syria and Iraq, despite disruptions following the collapse of the Assad regime last year.<\/p>\n The Trump administration has also expressed frustration over Beirut\u2019s failure to curb Hezbollah. U.S. Special Envoy Thomas Barrack recently described Lebanon as “a failed state” because of its “paralyzed government,” and that Hezbollah pays its fighters more than the national army soldiers earns.<\/p>\n EXCLUSIVE: A LOOK AT HEZBOLLAH’S PLAN TO TERRORIZE AND INVADE NORTHERN ISRAEL<\/a><\/p>\n Commuters drive past a newly-installed billboard bearing the image of a Lebanese flag and a statement that reads in Arabic “Lebanon a new era”, replacing a Hezbollah billboard, on the road leading to Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International airport on April 10, 2025.\u00a0 (Photo by Joseph Eid\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Responding to Israel’s preemptive strikes last week, Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi urged his visiting German counterpart on Friday to “help pressure Israel to halt its attacks.”<\/p>\n “Only a diplomatic solution, not a military one, can ensure stability and maintain calm in the south,” Raggi said, according to Lebanon\u2019s National News Agency (NNA).<\/p>\n He added that the Lebanese government “is gradually moving forward with its decision to bring all weapons under state control.”<\/p>\n The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon<\/a> (UNIFIL) on Thursday voiced “deep concerns”, urging all parties “to fully commit to the cessation of hostilities.”<\/p>\n UNIFIL added that it remains in contact with the Lebanese Armed Forces and emphasized that extending state authority “is at the very core of Resolution 1701.”<\/p>\n![\"Israeli](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/idfnorthexercise1.jpg\")
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