Spotlight on Terrorism: Hezbollah, Lebanon and Syria (September 23 – 30 ,2024)

Overview^[1]

• This past week, the IDF attacked thousands of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including advanced weapons hidden in civilian locations. High-ranking Hezbollah terrorists were killed in targeted attacks in the Dahiyeh al-Janoubia in Beirut, including Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of Hezbollah, and Ali Karki, commander of the “southern front.”
• This past week Hezbollah claimed responsibility for 77 attacks on military and civilian targets in Israel, including the first launches of surface-to-surface missiles at the greater Tel Aviv and Jerusalem areas. Several people were injured by debris falling from interceptions and property was damaged.
• Hezbollah announced the death of ten senior figures and operatives in IDF attacks in Lebanon, with Nasrallah heading the list. However, according to estimates, the number of dead was higher and Hezbollah has announced only the most senior dead. In addition, 61 deaths of terrorist operatives from other organizations were reported, including the Hamas commander in Lebanon and 50 Amal operatives.
• Na’im Qassem, Hezbollah deputy secretary general, delivered the first speech by a senior member of the organization since the death of Nasrallah, promising that Hezbollah would continue its “support” for the Gaza Strip and the “defense” of Lebanon. He claimed a new secretary general would be elected in the near future.
• The authorities in Lebanon reported at least 1,640 people killed since the fighting began on October 8, 2023, more than 1,000 since September 16, 2024. Najib Mikati, prime minister of the Lebanese interim government, estimated that the number of displaced people in Lebanon could reach one million. The UN said that 100,000 people had crossed the border into Syria.
• Syria: The IDF eliminated the head of the Hamas network in southern Syria. According to reports, Israeli aircraft attacked along the Syria-Lebanon border to prevent the transfer of weapons to Hezbollah. The Syrian army reported that at least five of its soldiers had been killed in the attacks.

The Fighting in Lebanon

IDF attacks

• On September 23, 2024, the IDF launched Operation Northern Arrows to attack Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. This past week, thousands of targets in various parts of the country were attacked from the air, mainly missile launch capabilities and weapons hidden in civilian buildings and facilities, including cruise missiles and shore-to-sea missiles with ranges of hundreds of kilometers.^[2]
• Aerial attacks targeted senior Hezbollah officials (IDF spokesperson, September 26-28, 2024):
  • Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of Hezbollah, was killed on September 27, 2024, in an attack on the organization’s central headquarters under a residential building in Dahiyeh al-Janoubia (the southern quarter) in Beirut, during a meeting where the organization’s leadership was coordinating terrorist activities against Israel. The attack also killed Ali Karki, commander of the “southern front” [the Israeli border], and other senior Hezbollah figures.
  • Hassan Khalil Yassin, a senior member of Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters, was killed on September 28, 2024, in an attack on the Dahiyeh al-Janoubia. According to reports, he was responsible for marking military and civilian targets in Israeli territory for Hezbollah attacks and worked closely with the organization’s rocket and missile units.
  • Nabil Qaouk, who headed Hezbollah’s preventive security unit, was killed on September 29, 2024, in an attack on the Dahiyeh al-Janoubia. He joined Hezbollah in the 1980s and had been responsible for the activity in south Lebanon, was a member of Hezbollah’s Central Council and a member of the Jihad Council, and a prominent Hezbollah spokesman.
  • Muhammad Hussein Srour, commander of Hezbollah’s aerial unit, was killed on September 26, 2024, in an airstrike on the Dahiyeh al-Janoubia. He was responsible for drone, UAV and cruise missile attacks in Israel, and led projects for the production of UAVs in Lebanon. In the past he commanded a surface-to-air missile unit, commanded a unit in the Radwan Force and was Hezbollah’s representative to the Houthis in Yemen regarding their air array.
  • Ibrahim Muhammad Qubaisi, the head of Hezbollah’s missile and rocket system, was killed along with other senior commanders in an attack on the Dahiyeh al-Janoubia. He was responsible for firing rockets at the Israeli home front before and during the war, and was close to Hezbollah’s top military leadership (IDF spokesperson, September 28, 2024).

Hezbollah attacks

• This past last week Hezbollah claimed responsibility for 77 attacks on military and civilian targets in northern Israel, similar to the previous week. Hezbollah attacked with anti-tank missiles, artillery, UAVs and various types of rockets, and for the first time launched a surface-to-surface missile (Hezbollah combat information Telegram channel, September 23-30, 2024). Several people were injured by debris falling from the interceptions and damage to property was reported (IDF spokesperson and Israeli media, September 23-30, 2024).
• Extending the range of attacks: In response to the Israeli Air Force’s widespread attacks in various areas of Lebanon, which Hezbollah claims also injured and wounded civilians, the organization responded by extending its attacks to new targets and to locations deeper in Israel, including Haifa and its suburbs, Tiberias, the Jezreel Valley, South Carmel (Zikhron Ya’akov and Atlit) and the organization’s first attack on Tel Aviv. In most instances Hezbollah explicitly stated that the attacks were aimed at civilian settlements in Israel in retaliation, it claimed, for “Israel’s barbaric attacks on cities, villages and civilians” (Hezbollah combat information Telegram channel, September 23-30, 2024).^[3]

Hezbollah casualties

• During the past week, Hezbollah announced the deaths of ten senior officials and operatives in attacks in Lebanon (Hezbollah combat information Telegram channel, September 23-30, 2024). However, according to estimates the number of Hezbollah casualties in IDF attacks was higher, and therefore the organization currently issues announcements only about senior officials, in contrast to its customary announcements since the start of hostilities on October 8, 2023:
• Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of Hezbollah, was called “Master of the Resistance,” the highest title given to one of Hezbollah’s dead since the beginning of the current conflict on October 8, 2023. The announcement called him a “great shaheed” and a “shaheed on the way to Jerusalem and Palestine,” and claimed he was “a brave, wise, intelligent leader who joined the convoy of martyrs from Karbala,” was “one of its greatest leaders.” The current leadership promised that “Hezbollah will continue the jihad, support Gaza and defend Lebanon.” The organization also offered its condolences to Ali Khamenei, the leader of Iran, to all the organization’s operatives, to the Lebanese people and as to Nasrallah’s family (Hezbollah’s combat information arm’s Telegram channel, September 28, 2024). However, unlike Hezbollah’s custom in the current conflict, a mourning notice with Nasrallah’s picture was not issued.
• Ali Abd al-Mun’em Karki, aka al-Hajj Abu al-Faisal, “the commander of the great jihad,” was born in 1962 in the town of Ain Bouswar in south Lebanon. According to the announcement, he was one of Hezbollah’s founders and responsible for many suicide bombing attacks targeting IDF forces, including the suicide bombing attack on the Israeli military government building in Tyre in November 1982. He established the “resistance” formations along the border after the IDF’s withdrawal to the security zone in south Lebanon in 1985, had commanded the “southern front” since 1996 and led the fighting until the withdrawal of the IDF forces in 2000 and in the Second Lebanon War in 2006. He was responsible for Hezbollah headquarters and all its units starting in 2006, and during Operation al-Aqsa Flood he supervised the military activities of the central headquarters. He had also been a member of the Shura Council and the Jihad Council since their establishment and had been Nasrallah’s assistant regarding jihad affairs since 2008 (Hezbollah combat information Telegram channel, September 29-30, 2024).

• Sheikh Nabil Yahya Kaouk, aka al-Sheikh Nabil and given an honorary Islamic religious epithet, was born in the town of Ebba in south Lebanon in 1964 and was the head of Hezbollah’ preventive security unit. According to Hezbollah’s announcement he had been its organizational head in south Lebanon from 1991 to 2010 and was the deputy head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council until 2018. It was also reported that he had many areas of organizational responsibility, “was trusted, was a scholar and a wonderful jihadist presence in the jihad arenas ” (Hezbollah combat information Telegram channel , September 29-30, 2024).

• Muhammad Hussein Srour, aka Abu Saleh, “the shaheed commander,” was born in Aita al-Sha’ab in south Lebanon in 1973. According to Hezbollah’s announcement he joined Hezbollah in 1986 and participated in operations against the “Israeli occupation,” and later against the “infidel forces” [ISIS] in eastern Lebanon and Syria. Since 2020 he had commanded Hezbollah’s aerial unit and led the airstrikes since the “support front” was opened during Operation al-Aqsa Flood (Hezbollah combat information, September 27, 2024).

Na’im Qassem’s speech

• September 30, 2024, Na’im Qassem, Hezbollah deputy secretary general, delivered a eulogy for Hassan Nasrallah. He was the first senior official to speak publicly since Nasrallah’s death. He spoke from a hidden location and looked tense and sweaty (al-Manar, September 30, 2024):
  • He praised Nasrallah, claiming he had been “loved by the masses, the lovers of freedom and Palestine, and all those who hope to free it from the Zionist disease and dismantle the power of American-Zionist arrogance.”
  • He denied the IDF’s announcement that Hezbollah headquarters was attacked while Nasrallah was meeting with 20 senior Hezbollah operatives, and claimed that only Nasrallah’s close aides and his bodyguards had been with him. He also claimed that there had been no damage to advanced weapons, such as long-range missiles, which was “A dream the enemy will never realize.”
  • He accused Israel of carrying out “massacres throughout Lebanon and attacking civilians.” He claimed the United States gave Israel “open support to carry out massacres [sic].”
  • He clarified that despite its losses of leaders and the attacks on civilians, the “resistance” would continue to aid the Gaza Strip and “Palestine,” and would defend Lebanon and its people.
  • He claimed Hezbollah operatives continued to act according to the organizational structure and carried out alternative plans established by Nasrallah. When Na’im Qassem claimed responsibility for launching missiles at Ma’ale Adumim (September 28, 2024) and Haifa (September 29, 2024), about which Hezbollah did not publish official announcements, he claimed that since Nasrallah’s death, operations “were continuing at the same rate and intensifying.” He called the activity “minimal” and according to plan, adding that the battle might be long, possibilities were “open,” and the “resistance” was prepared for a ground confrontation.
  • He said Hezbollah would elect a new secretary general “as early as possible and in accordance with the approved mechanism.” He claimed they would “fill the leadership positions regularly, and rest assured, the elections will be easy.”
  • He ended by saying to Hezbollah’s terrorist operatives, “We believe in you, and we will win as we won the Second Lebanon War.”

Terrorist organization casualties

Hamas

• Hamas announced that its commander in Lebanon and a member of the “external” Hamas leadership Fateh Sherif Abu al-Amin, was killed along with his family in an Israeli airstrike on his home in the al-Bass refugee camp in south Lebanon on September 30, 2024. Hamas called the airstrike a “terrorist assassination operation,” praised the work of Abu al-Amin and offered condolences on his death (Hamas Telegram channel, September 30, 2024). The IDF spokesperson confirmed that Fateh Sherif Abu al-Amin, who was the head of the Lebanese arena in Hamas, had been killed in an Israeli Air Force attack. According to Hamas’ announcement, he coordinated the activities of Hamas from Lebanon with Hezbollah and was responsible for recruiting operatives and purchasing weapons (IDF spokesperson, September 30, 2024).

• The Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, announced the death of “field commander Hussein Mahmoud al-Nader, from Marjayoun in south Lebanon, who was killed in an Israeli attack in Lebanon on September 23, 2024” (Hamas in Judea and Samaria Telegram channel, September 24, 2024). Al-Jama’ah al-Islamiyya, the Muslim Brotherhood branch in Lebanon, also announced his death (al-Manarah lili’lam, September 24, 2024).

Al-Jama’ah Al-Islamiyya

• Al-Jama’ah al-Islamiyya announced that “the jihadist commander, Muhammad Dahrouj, aka Abu Omar, was killed in a barbaric and cruel bombing on his home in Joub Jannine in the Lebanon Valley” on the morning of September 29, 2024 (al-Jama’ah al-Islamiyya X account, September 29, 2024).

• According to reports, on September 30, 2024, the movement’s secretary general, Muhammad Taqoush, was killed in an Israeli attack in the al-Kula neighborhood. A “Hamas source” later stated that he had not been in the apartment when it was attacked and that he was in good condition (MTV Lebanon, September 30, 2024).

Amal

• The Amal Movement announced the deaths of 50 of its operatives, including medics and members of its scouting organization. Ten of the dead were called “jihad fighters” and were reported as killed “while performing their national duty and jihad in defense of Lebanon and the south” (Amal Movement Telegram channel, September 23-30, 2024).

The Islamic Jihad in Palestine (PIJ)

• The Jerusalem Brigades, the PIJ’s military wing, announced that four operatives of its affiliate in Syria had been killed while performing their “combat duty” in south Lebanon (PIJ combat information Telegram channel, September 24, 2024).

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)

•   The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the PFLP’s military wing, announced that two of the battalion commanders and an operative were killed in an Israeli attack in Beirut (Telegram channel of the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, September 30, 2024).

Fatah

• The Fatah Movement announced that Dr. Radwan Abdallah was killed in an attack in Ain al-Dalab, east of Sidon, on September 29, 2024. According to reports, he was a member of the central monitoring committee for Fatah’s recruitment and organization (Fatah Movement in Lebanon website, September 29, 2024).

The Situation in Lebanon

Casualties

• Lebanon’s health minister, Dr. Firass Abiad, said that between the beginning of the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel on October 8, 2023 and September 27, 2024, 1,640 people had been killed, including 104 children and 194 women, and 8,408 injured. He reported that between October 8, 2023 and September 15, 2024, the death toll was 610 people, but from September 16 to September 27, 2024, there were an additional 1,030 deaths. He said there were more dead and missing under the ruins. He said that no hospital had ceased operations, but efforts were being made to reduce the burden on the hospitals in the attacked areas (al-Nashra, September 28, 2024). On September 30, 2024, the Lebanese ministry of health reported an additional 105 deaths and 359 wounded within one day (MTV, September 30, 2024)

The displaced

• On September 23, 2024, when Operation Northern Arrows began, in preparation for further Israeli Air Force attacks, the IDF spokesperson called on the residents of the villages in south Lebanon to leave their homes if they were being used by Hezbollah to hide weapons. He warned the local residents that Hezbollah was endangering them and that they should stay away to protect themselves. Later, similar warnings were issued to residents in the Lebanon Valley and the Dahiyeh al-Janoubia (IDF spokesperson in Arabic’s X account, September 23-28, 2024).
• Najib Mikati, prime minister of the Lebanese interim government, held a meeting of the government’s emergency committee to discuss the displaced. He reported that there were 118,000 displaced persons in 778 shelters throughout the country, and that their basic needs were being met. However, he admitted that the actual numbers could be higher and that the number of displaced people could reach one million. He said the government was doing everything it could and mobilizing all its agencies to help the displaced (Lebanon24, September 29, 2024).
• Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees, said that approximately 100,000 people had crossed the border from Lebanon to Syria “to escape the Israeli attacks.” September 30, 2024).

International Aid

• The UN’s World Food Program (WFP) said that Lebanon “was at a breaking point and was unable to endure another war.” The WFP announced an emergency operation to help the one million people affected by the latest escalation, during which it “distributed food and aid packages to thousands people in a few days” (WFP website, September 29, 2024).
• The European Commission announced that it would provide additional humanitarian aid worth €10 million for Lebanese affected by the ongoing escalation between Hezbollah and Israel. The Commission specified that the emergency aid should help with urgent needs such as protection, food, shelter and health services (European Commission website, September 29, 2024).

Syria

Head of Hamas network in southern Syria eliminated

• On September 28, 2024, the head of the Hamas terrorist network in southern Syria, Ahmed Muhammad Fahd, was eliminated in an Israeli Air Force attack. He was responsible for terrorist activity targeting IDF forces and Israeli territory in southern Syria, including firing rockets at the Golan Heights. According to the IDF, he planned to carry out another attack in the immediate future (IDF spokesman, September 28, 2024). According to reports, an Israeli drone hit an apartment in the village of Beit Saber, in the Hermon area, killing a woman and her partner, a Palestinian-Syrian, and injuring several other people

Attacks on Hezbollah targets attributed to Israel

• During the past week, reports were published of attacks in Syria attributed to Israel, most of them on targets related to Hezbollah as part of increasing attacks on the organization:
• An Israeli drone attacked a villa used by senior members of Hezbollah and the Revolutionary Guards in the town of Yafour in the Damascus region. The villa belonged to the Syrian army’s 4^th Division commanded by Maher al-Assad, the Syrian president’s brother. “Sources” said that Maher al-Assad had been warned that if weapons were transferred from the Division to Hezbollah in Lebanon, the villa would be the target of an attack (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, September 29-30, 2024).
• Israeli warplanes attacked a site near a Syrian army position in the al-Qusayr area, southwest of Homs, near the Lebanese border (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, September 29, 2024). According to reports, the Syrian army’s aerial defense systems attacked Israeli drones in the countryside west of Homs (al-Mayadeen, September 29, 2024).
• Israeli warplanes attacked a warehouse belonging to people who work with Hezbollah between al-Tufayl and ‘Assal al-Ward in the Lebanese border area. At the same time, a UAV attacked a vehicle in the al-Qusayr area and one person was killed (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, September 28, 2024).
• Several attacks were carried out on Syria-Lebanon border crossings to stop the transfer of weapons to Hezbollah (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, September 27-28, 2024). The Syrian army said that five of its soldiers had been killed in an attack on an outpost in the village of Yabous in the Damascus area (SANA, September 27, 2024).

^[1] Click https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en to subscribe and receive the ITIC's daily updates as well as its other publications.
^[2] For further information, see the September 2024 ITIC reports, "Operation Northern Arrows," and "Israeli Attack in Beirut Eliminates Hassan Nasrallah."
^[3] On July 17, 2024, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah threatened that if Israel attacked civilians, the response would be directed at cities, towns and villages which had not previously been attacked.

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