The IDF has confirmed a series of airstrikes on weapons storage facilities and command centers used by Hezbollah’s Radwan Forces and Munitions Unit in Al-Qusayr, Syria. According to IDF intelligence, the Israeli Air Force carried out these strikes to disrupt Hezbollah’s operations in the area. In recent months, the IDF has intensified strikes to curb weapon transfers from Iran through Syria into Hezbollah-controlled areas in Lebanon. Hezbollah’s Munitions Unit, typically storing arms in Lebanon, has expanded its logistics base to Al-Qusayr near the Syrian-Lebanese border, allowing for weapon smuggling across the border. The operation is part of a broader IDF campaign against Hezbollah’s Unit 4400, which manages the smuggling routes from Iran through Syria and into Lebanon.

The IDF intensified their operations in both southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, carrying out airstrikes against Hezbollah and Hamas targets over the past week. In a recent operation, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) targeted and eliminated Muhammad Khalil Alian, commander of Hezbollah’s anti-tank missile division in the Hajir arena of the ‘Nasser’ Unit, located in Qalaouiyeh, southern Lebanon. Over the past 24 hours, approximately 150 Hezbollah and Hamas positions across Lebanon and Gaza were struck. The strikes targeted a range of sites, including command centers, weapons storage locations, observation posts, and rocket launchers that threatened Israeli security.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today (Thursday, 31 October 2024), at the start of the Government meeting to approve the 2025 state budget [translated from Hebrew]: “We are in the midst of a war. Our security depends on the security services, the IDF and other elements, which are properly equipped, both spiritually and materially. Our security also depends on the economy. We cannot have a strong military if we have no way of financing it. Therefore, security depends on the economy, but the economy also depends on security. If it is possible to strike the heart of our cities, our industry and our citizens, then it is clear that our economic capability will be harmed. Therefore, security and the economy are interdependent.

The IDF confirmed that earlier today, under IDF intelligence guidance, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) launched airstrikes against Hezbollah command and control centers and other terrorist infrastructure located in Baalbek, in northern Lebanon, and Nabatieh, in the south. According to the IDF, Hezbollah has routinely used civilian areas throughout Lebanon to orchestrate and carry out terrorist operations, posing a risk to Lebanese civilians by embedding its infrastructure in populated regions. To minimize civilian risk, the IDF reported taking numerous precautionary measures before the strikes, including issuing advance warnings across multiple communication channels to alert residents in the targeted areas.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced efforts to secure a ceasefire in the ongoing Israel-Hezbollah conflict, expressing hopes for progress within days. Speaking in an interview on Lebanese channel Al-Jadeed, Mikati stated, “We are doing our best… to have a ceasefire within the coming hours or days,” and shared that he remains “cautiously optimistic” about the outcome.

This morning, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant entered the Gaza Strip, meeting with IDF troops stationed in Rafah and along the Philadelphi Corridor. Accompanied by high-ranking military officials, including the General of the Southern Command and the Commander of the Gaza Division, Gallant was briefed on recent operations and was shown the location where Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was eliminated. In discussions with the troops, Minister Gallant highlighted the importance of sustained pressure on Hamas, emphasizing their recent operational successes: “In any place where Hamas rears its head, it meets the IDF – whether in Rafah, Khan Younis, or Jabaliya – wherever Hamas rises, it is taken down.

In a joint effort between the United States and Israel, U.S. Marines have successfully completed their first live-fire training exercise using a new air defense system that integrates the Iron Dome interceptor. The Israel Ministry of Defense announced that this system features an American radar and command-and-control center combined with the Iron Dome’s Tamir interceptor and a mobile launcher developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems in partnership with Raytheon as the prime contractor. During the training, Marines operated the system independently, achieving successful target interceptions. The exercise also tested the system’s capability for continuous launches from a mobile launcher designed specifically for the Marines.

The Israeli Defense Forces reported that in the past 24 hours, they launched extensive operations targeting more than 150 locations associated with terrorist activity in both Lebanon and Gaza. According to IDF sources, dozens of militants were eliminated across these regions, and significant stockpiles of weapons were destroyed. In Lebanon, IDF forces took control of several Hezbollah military sites, dismantling rocket launchers and seizing weapons caches.

Since the beginning of the war, the IDF Medical Corps, Unit 669, and IAF rescue helicopters have been providing advanced, life-saving medical care under fire on the battlefield. The forces have evacuated over 200 injured soldiers from the battlefield in the northern arena, and over 1,600 injured soldiers from the southern arena.

On Sunday, the social media platform X suspended the newly created official account of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, @Khamenei_Heb, just one day after its launch. The suspension followed a tweet from the account, which stated, “The Zionist regime made a mistake. It erred in its calculations on Iran. We will cause it to understand what kind of strength, ability, initiative, and will the Iranian nation has.” This message appeared to reference Israel’s military response on October 26 to Iran’s ballistic missile attack on October 1. X, owned by Elon Musk, who has publicly supported Israel, did not provide specific reasons for the suspension.