Despite the IDF’s confirmation on Thursday of the assassination of Radwan special forces commander in Beirut, Ahmad Ghaleb Balout, the highest-ranking official Israel has killed from Hezbollah since November 2025, the terror group had not forcibly retaliated by press time.
An IDF statement on Thursday said that the air force killed Balout in a precision strike in Beirut’s Dahiyeh neighborhood on Wednesday due to his directing dozens of attacks against Israeli troops in southern Lebanon during the war, including anti-tank missile fire and explosive-device attacks.
The military noted that Balout was also working to rebuild the Radwan Force’s capabilities, including Hezbollah’s long-planned “Conquer the Galilee” invasion plan. The IDF said it would continue to act against the Radwan Force’s efforts to restore its strength.
If one expected a heavy and escalatory response from Hezbollah – including the launching of 100 rockets and drones on Israel’s northern residents as the terror group did for all of March and in early April – one would be mistaken. At press time, Hezbollah had seemingly decided to downplay the event to avoid a return to all-out war.
Hezbollah did continue its low-to-medium grade attacks on IDF troops in southern Lebanon, and attempted to attack smaller northern Israeli border towns.
Early on Thursday evening, the IDF canceled events in the northern border towns, as they were concerned that Hezbollah might escalate its attacks in response to the killing of Balout.
On Thursday afternoon, the IDF said that Hezbollah had launched a number of rockets and drones at IDF forces in southern Lebanon.
The air force said that the rockets had been shot down.
Hezbollah’s drones succeeded at penetrating IDF defenses, but failed to cause casualties in that particular round.
Two days ago, however, IDF soldiers were less fortunate.
One IDF soldier was seriously injured, and three others were lightly injured after an explosive drone attack in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, the military announced on Thursday. The soldiers were evacuated to a hospital to receive medical treatment.
On Wednesday, the IDF said two other soldiers were wounded when Hezbollah terrorists launched explosive drones and rockets towards troops operating in southern Lebanon.
According to the military, two explosive drones detonated near the soldiers, leading to one soldier being lightly wounded and another being severely wounded.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the successful strike against Balout “in the heart of Beirut” on Thursday afternoon. “This is the same senior terrorist who led the plan to conquer the North,” Netanyahu said. “He thought he could continue to direct attacks against our forces and our communities from his secret terrorist headquarters in Beirut.”
“No terrorist has immunity,” Netanyahu said. “Anyone who threatens the State of Israel will pay the price.”
In addition to Balout, the same airstrike killed two other senior Hezbollah commanders, including Nasr regional division chief of intelligence Muhammad Ali Bazi and Aerial Defense Chief Hussein Hassan Romani.
“These commanders worked to advance and carry out terror attack plans against IDF soldiers and citizens of the State of Israel,” the military said.
According to the IDF, it has killed more than 220 Hezbollah operatives since the ceasefire went into effect.
Prior to the ceasefire, the IDF had killed around 1,700 Hezbollah terrorists.
Despite those successes, The Jerusalem Post has received indications that Balout’s deputy chief of the Radwan Force had not been killed.
Some initial reports had suggested he had been assassinated in the same strike, along with Balout.
The attack on Balout was the first in Lebanon’s capital in weeks, following the ceasefires with Iran on April 7 and with Hezbollah on April 17.
Lebanese media first reported on the attack.
Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that Radwan is responsible for the attacks on Israel’s northern residents.
They added that no terrorist has immunity and that the “long arm of Israel would get to every enemy and murderer.”
Furthermore, they said they would keep the government’s promise to restore security for Israel’s northern residents.
A senior official told the Post that the IDF had attacked a Hezbollah headquarters that issued instructions for ceasefire violations and ordered attacks on northern Israeli communities.
IDF kills several Radwan commanders since 2023
Since 2023, Israel has killed multiple top Radwan commanders, but fewer top officials recently.
In November 2025, in the most aggressive strike by Israel against Hezbollah since the November 2024 ceasefire, an IDF airstrike killed Hezbollah military commander Ali Tabatabai in the heart of Beirut.
Many senior Hezbollah commanders have been killed since, but not at the level of the top Radwan commander.
For almost a week after the April 17 ceasefire, the IDF and Hezbollah heavily limited the friction between both sides.
However, as Iran and the US started to fight over the Strait of Hormuz, the Lebanese government started to hold public meetings with Israel, and the IDF continued to hunt down Hezbollah fighters in the parts of southern Lebanon under its control. Meanwhile, Hezbollah began attacking Israeli northern towns again and escalated its attacks on IDF soldiers.
If the IDF had hoped, as a senior IDF source put it, that the ceasefire would only apply north of the Litani River and within Israel, but not in southern Lebanon in between the two, Hezbollah was not having it.
Furthermore, if the IDF believed that Hezbollah was so desperate to avoid attacks in Beirut that it would turn the other cheek – or that it would not pose a serious threat to IDF soldiers in southern Lebanon – it was proven wrong. The Lebanese terror group’s use of FPV drones has shown that, unfortunately, it charges a heavy price if engaged.
Yesterday, the IDF continued to drive Hezbollah out of or kill its small groups of remaining fighters in Naqoura, Ras al-Bayada, and other parts of southern Lebanon in what one senior IDF official called a “ceasefire, which is not a ceasefire.”
On Tuesday, the Post, escorted by the IDF for a visit to both Naqoura and an IDF position in the Ras al-Bayada region, reached around 10 kilometers deep into southern Lebanon.
The Post saw heavily destroyed villages along the way – a feature of Hezbollah keeping weapons in most houses in the majority of the villages, IDF senior sources said.
Despite that picture, IDF officials said that Christian villages, like Alma a-Shaab, have been left intact, as Hezbollah did not set up positions or store weapons there.
That means that Christian Lebanese civilians should be able to return to their homes when the current conflict is resolved.
The area is under the control of IDF Division 146, commanded by Brig. Gen. Beni Aharon, with two of his senior commanders being Col. Aviel Balachsan, commander of the 226 Paratroopers Reservist Brigade, and Lt.-Col. Lior Chasid, commander of Battalion 9.
Amichai Stein and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.