A Hezbollah operative was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon on Thursday night, the military said.
The operative — identified by Lebanese media as Mahdi Hassan Shaito — was targeted in the southern town of at-Tiri. Lebanon’s health ministry also reported one person dead in the strike.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, the operative was involved in restoring the terror group’s military infrastructure in the at-Tiri area.
The military said the operative’s activities were a violation of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon.
Under the November 2024 ceasefire deal, Hezbollah was required to withdraw and disarm south of the Litani River. Israel alleges that the terror group continues to operate in the area, leading the IDF to conduct near-daily strikes.
The US-brokered ceasefire with Hezbollah came after two months of open conflict in Lebanon, including an IDF ground operation in the country’s south in a bid to enable the safe return of some 60,000 residents of northern Israel displaced by the terror group’s near-daily attacks. The rocket attacks began on October 8, 2023 — a day after fellow Iran-backed terror group Hamas invaded southern Israel, sparking the war in Gaza.
צה”ל חיסל מחבל מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה שפעל לשיקום תשתיות צבאיות בדרום לבנון
צה”ל תקף אתמול, וחיסל מחבל שעסק בניסיון שיקום תשתיות צבאיות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב א-טירי שבדרום לבנון.
פעולותיו של המחבל היוו הפרה של ההבנות בין ישראל ללבנון.
צה”ל ימשיך לפעול על מנת להסיר כל… pic.twitter.com/vQi1DeaJXn
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) February 13, 2026
The ceasefire required both Israel and Hezbollah to vacate southern Lebanon, to be replaced by the Lebanese armed forces. Israel has withdrawn from all but five strategic posts along the border.
Since the ceasefire, the IDF said it has killed over 400 Hezbollah operatives and members of allied terror groups in strikes, hit hundreds of Hezbollah sites, and conducted over 1,200 raids and other small operations in southern Lebanon.
Weakened by the war and still facing regular Israeli strikes, Hezbollah is under internal and international pressure to hand over its weapons, with the Lebanese army having drawn up a plan to disarm it.
A member of the Lebanese military stands guard during a visit by Lebanon’s prime minister to the heavily-damaged southern village of Kfar Kila, near the border with Israel on February 8, 2026. (Rabih Daher/AFP)
Separately, earlier on Thursday, two Israeli activists for settlement in Lebanon — a small fringe group — breached the border before being returned to Israel by the IDF.
According to the military, some 20 activists had gathered near the Israeli border community of Yir’on, with two crossing the barrier into Lebanon.
The activists said they entered Lebanon to plant trees and to “renew the Jewish settlement in Lebanon.”
The IDF said that the two civilians were apprehended by troops, brought back to Israel, and handed over to the police for further questioning.
“The IDF strongly condemns the incident and emphasizes that it is a grave event constituting a criminal offense that endangers civilians and IDF troops,” the army added.
There have been several occasions where Israeli civilians have crossed the border into Lebanon since the November 2024 ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Support for Jewish settlement in Lebanon remains very small, and no politicians or major figures outside of fringe settler groups have called for their establishment.
