Israeli strike on Hezbollah more devastating than 2024 pager attack, IDF says

Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group, saw its bid building crossed Lebanon travel nether what Israeli officials described arsenic 1 of nan astir devastating blows of nan warfare April 8.

Nearly simultaneously, explosions tore done Beirut, Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley and confederate Lebanon arsenic astir 50 Israeli craft struck much than 100 Hezbollah targets.

The targets were not rocket launchers aliases weapons depots, according to Israel Defense Forces (IDF), but nan nervus centers of nan organization: bid rooms, intelligence office and offices wherever Hezbollah commanders planned nan adjacent shape of nan fight.

The onslaught marked a caller shape successful nan warfare betwixt Israel and Hezbollah, which erupted March 2 aft Hezbollah entered nan conflict successful support of Iran — 1 time aft U.S. and Israeli strikes connected Iran and nan sidesplitting of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Since then, Hezbollah has fired rockets, drones and anti-tank missiles into bluish Israel, while Israel has responded pinch widening airstrikes and a crushed violative wrong confederate Lebanon.

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Smoke rises aft Israeli strikes successful Lebanon, pursuing an escalation betwixt Hezbollah and Israel amid nan U.S.-Israeli conflict pinch Iran, arsenic seen from Marjayoun, Lebanon, March 5, 2026. (Karamallah Daher/Reuters)

"Within only a minute, nan IDF eliminated 250 Hezbollah terrorists successful 3 areas simultaneously," nan Israeli subject said successful a statement, adding that nan appraisal is still ongoing. 

IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani told Fox News Digital nan onslaught was nan consequence of weeks of intelligence work.

Israeli intelligence agencies tracked Hezbollah operatives arsenic they moved betwixt apartments, offices and safe houses crossed Lebanon.

"The timing had to do pinch nan preparations," Shoshani said. "There was weeks of astonishing intelligence."

Asked whether nan cognition showed Israel still has heavy penetration wrong Hezbollah contempt months of war, Shoshani pointed to nan standard of nan attack.

"The truth that we were capable to find 250 terrorists hiding successful different locations successful Lebanon, galore of them successful locations for caller weeks, eliminating them successful existent time, I deliberation nan capabilities speak for themselves," he said.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned Wednesday's strikes.

"The standard of nan sidesplitting and demolition successful Lebanon coming is thing short of horrific," said United Nations Human Rights Chief Volker Türk. "Such carnage, wrong hours of agreeing to a ceasefire pinch Iran, defies belief."

Hezbollah said nan time aft nan onslaught that it fired rockets astatine Israel, "This consequence will proceed until nan Israeli-American aggression against our state and our group ceases," nan group said successful a statement.

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An detonation erupts from a building pursuing an Israeli onslaught successful cardinal Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (Hussein Malla/AP)

The onslaught drew a comparison to nan "beeper" cognition successful September 2024, erstwhile thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies utilized by Hezbollah operatives exploded almost simultaneously crossed Lebanon and Syria successful an cognition wide attributed to Israel.

The blasts killed much than 40 group and wounded astir 4,000, according to Lebanese authorities, while Hezbollah later acknowledged that astir 1,500 fighters were taken retired of action. The cognition shattered Hezbollah's communications web and became nan benchmark successful Israel for a onslaught that fundamentally changed nan battlefield.

"The beeper had much of an effective injuries that was nan intent of it," Shoshani said. "But some targeted hundreds of terrorists, and wrong 60 seconds."

Like nan beeper operation, he said, nan April 8 onslaught was intended not conscionable to termination operatives but to propulsion Hezbollah into disarray.

"It was important to nan facet of creating disarray, of breaking their concatenation of command, breaking their bid and patrol capabilities, and benignant of tilting nan statement retired of balance," he said.

A erstwhile Israeli intelligence official, speaking connected background, said nan onslaught whitethorn not person reached nan level of nan beeper operation, but appeared to deed an unusually wide furniture of Hezbollah's mediate ranks. 

Hezbollah remains successful daze from nan blow, according to nan erstwhile official, moreover if that has not yet been reflected successful a driblet successful its rocket fire.

But he cautioned against judging nan cognition only by nan number of group killed.

The existent measure, he said, is whether nan onslaught changes nan people of nan warfare and leaves Hezbollah little capable to operate.

The IDF said galore of those killed belonged to Hezbollah's Radwan Force — Hezbollah's most tin and best-trained combat unit, intelligence apparatus, rocket units and aerial Unit 127. 

The Israeli subject said astir of nan targets were embedded wrong civilian areas.

"Most of nan infrastructure that was struck was located wrong nan bosom of nan civilian population," nan IDF said.

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The Israeli subject said astir of nan targets were embedded wrong civilian areas. (Fadel Itani/AFP)

Shoshani said Israel warned civilians to evacuate earlier nan strikes, but Hezbollah moved its operatives into caller civilian locations.

"When we gave nan warnings for areas, civilians moved out, past Hezbollah saw that they moved retired and started hiding down civilians successful caller locations," he said.

Despite nan blow, Israeli officials opportunity Hezbollah remains a awesome threat. Shoshani said nan group, which earlier nan warfare possessed betwixt 150,000 and 200,000 rockets and missiles, still has nan expertise to occurrence into Israel.

"They still are a existent threat for our civilians," he said.

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Smoke billows pursuing strikes connected Beirut's confederate suburbs, pursuing an escalation betwixt Hezbollah and Israel amid nan U.S.-Israeli conflict pinch Iran, arsenic seen from Baabda, Lebanon, March 5, 2026. (Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)

The onslaught comes arsenic Israel and Lebanon opened their first nonstop talks successful much than 3 decades astatine nan U.S. State Department successful Washington. 

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has signaled willingness to talk normalization and nan eventual disarmament of Hezbollah, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted location will beryllium nary ceasefire until Hezbollah is dismantled and pushed backmost from nan border.

Within hours of nan negotiated opening, Israeli warplanes again struck Lebanon and Hezbollah fired rockets into bluish Israel.

Reuters contributed to this report.