Lebanon: IDF Strike Eliminates Top Hamas Operative Planning Terror Attacks on Israelis Abroad

Lebanon: IDF Strike Eliminates Top Hamas Operative Planning Terror Attacks on Israelis Abroad

An Israeli drone strike on Monday eliminated the head of Hamas’s terrorist operations in Hezbollah-dominated Lebanon. The IDF “strike killed Mohammad Shaheen, the head of Hamas’ operations department in Lebanon,” the Associated Press reported. “Hamas confirmed Shaheen’s death but described him as a military commander.”

The slain terrorist, who was operating from the Lebanese port city of Sidon, had been plotting attacks against Israeli civilians at home and abroad. “Shaheen was Hamas’s head of operation within Lebanon. In his role, he tried to plan terror operations against Israeli citizens, whether within Israeli territory or during international travels,” the Jerusalem Post reported.

BREAKINGThe IDF eliminated Sidon, Lebanon Muhammad Shaheen, a senior military in Hams, Lebanon, who was responsible for planning attacks against Israelis in Europe. pic.twitter.com/sznlMxTo1s

— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) February 17, 2025

“A short while ago, in a joint IDF and ISA (the Israel Security Agency) … the IAF (Israeli Air Force) struck and eliminated the terrorist Muhammad Shaheen in the area of Sidon,” the Israeli military announced Monday afternoon.

“Shaheen served as the head of Hamas’ Operations Department in Lebanon,” the IDF disclosed. He “was eliminated after recently planning terror attacks, directed and funded by Iran, from Lebanese territory against the citizens of the state of Israel.”

The Hamas operative was a “significant source of knowledge within the terrorist organization and was responsible throughout the war for various terror attacks, and rocket launchers aimed at Israeli civilians,” the IDF statement added.

The Head of Hamas’ Operations Department in Lebanon, Muhammed Shaheen, was eliminated in a precise IAF strike in the area of Sidon earlier today.

Shaheen was eliminated after recently planning terror attacks, directed and funded by Iran, and was a significant source of… pic.twitter.com/qa4x0dLZb4

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) February 17, 2025

IDF to hold 5 strategic posts in southern Lebanon to prevent Hezbollah’s return

With the 60-day withdrawal deadline approaching Tuesday, the Israeli military announced that it will retain five strategic positions in southern Lebanon to prevent Hezbollah terrorists from regrouping in the area.

The decision to hold the forward positions was made after repeated Hezbollah terrorist activities along Israel’s northern border throughout the two-month ceasefire.

On Monday, the IDF announced that it had uncovered and destroyed a Hezbollah terrorist base in southern Lebanon. In recent weeks, “soldiers of the Paratroopers Brigade and the Yahalom Unit, under the command of the 810th Brigade, located underground terrorist infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah’s “Radwan Force” Unit,” the Israeli military said in a press statement Monday. “The structure extended for dozens of meters and contained living quarters and combat equipment. Last night (Sunday), the underground terrorist infrastructure was dismantled.”

The IDF withdrawal from southern Lebanon will be accompanied by increased Israeli military in the north. According to the Jerusalem Post, “the IDF will have around three times as many troops on the defense line of the border with Lebanon as compared to before the war.”

“In addition, the military will maintain five outposts within southern Lebanon near the border, each manned by a company of troops, for an indefinite period,” the newspaper added, estimating the new troop numbers along the Lebanon border to be between 10,000 and 15,000.

The Times of Israel reported the IDF decision to hold strategic posts along the northern border:

The Israel Defense Forces on Monday confirmed troops will remain deployed in five strategic positions in southern Lebanon after Tuesday’s deadline for their withdrawal.

Under a ceasefire deal brokered by the United States in November, Israeli troops were granted 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, where they had waged a ground offensive against fighters from Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group since early October.

Hezbollah operatives were to leave the zone and Lebanese troops were to deploy in the area within the same period. The original deadline had already been extended from January 26 until February 18.

The Israel Defense Forces on Monday confirmed troops will remain deployed in five strategic positions in southern Lebanon after Tuesday’s deadline for their withdrawal.

Last week, the US authorized the IDF to remain in the five points, though it was not clear how long troops would stay there.

The military said it was prepared to stay at the posts for a lengthy period, until Hezbollah fully withdraws beyond the Litani River and the Israeli political leadership instructs it to leave.

IDF ground troops destroyed terrorist targets across southern Lebanon. “Troops of the 810th Brigade, under the command of the 210th Division, have carried out dozens of limited, localized, targeted raids throughout their operations in southern Lebanon to remove threats against the State of Israel and its civilians,” the IDF revealed.

IDF: Massive ammunition caches are being discovered in southern Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/i57IwKUNwj

— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) February 17, 2025

Lebanon halts Hezbollah weapons supply flights from Iran after Israel threatens action

Lebanon has finally stopped Iranian planes — many of them being used to resupply the battered terrorist group Hezbollah — from landing in the country after Israel threatened to target the terrorist-linked airport of Beirut.

For years, Israel has been warning the Lebanese government to halt Iranian weapons supply through its commercial airports. Lebanon had ignored those pleas. We reported back in December 2022 that the IDF “accused Hezbollah of hiding underground precision missile production facilities close to Beirut’s international airport.”

Apparently, with President Donald Trump in the White House, Beirut was finally compelled to take action.

The France24 TV channel reported Sunday:

A Lebanese source told AFP on Saturday that Lebanon had denied permission for Iranian flights to land twice this week, after the United States warned Israel might strike the airport.

Hezbollah earlier Sunday urged the government to reverse the decision.

Iran’s state news agency IRNA quoted the head of its civil aviation organisation Hossein Pourfarzaneh as saying the body was “following up on this issue daily” and “waiting to see what will happen on February 18”.

Hezbollah lost a supply route when Islamist-led rebels in December ousted ally Bashar al-Assad in neighbouring Syria.

Iran will desperately try to funnel weapons to its terrorist proxy Hezbollah through the Lebanese airports and maritime ports after Israel in early 2025 created a security buffer zone along its northern border with Syria after the fall of the Tehran-backed Assad regime.

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