Key Takeaways:
- Israel and Hezbollah have been in a ceasefire since November 2024, but the terrorist organization has consistently committed violations and made clear that it has no intention of disarming, resulting in Israel taking preventative measures to move Hezbollah back from the Litani River and destroy terrorist infrastructure throughout Lebanon.
- Hezbollah has reportedly been working closely with the IRGC as it plans to join any renewed fighting against Israel.
- Despite the threat posed by Hezbollah, the media has largely overlooked it and placed any blame for ceasefire violations on Israel.
On November 27, 2024, Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire after more than one year of war, which started when the Lebanese-based terrorist organization launched a front in support of Hamas on October 8, 2023. From the beginning of the fragile ceasefire through January 2026, Hezbollah committed 1,925 violations.
Today, the threat of Hezbollah continues to loom, amplified by the increasing regional tensions as Israel and the entire Middle East wait to see if and when the U.S. will launch any military operation against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In addition to preparing for a possible Iranian retaliation in the event of a U.S. strike, Israel is also contemplating the possibility that Iranian proxy Hezbollah will support its sponsor by joining in an attack on the Jewish state.
Despite being severely weakened after IDF operations took out senior leadership and destroyed between 70–80% of its firing capabilities, Hezbollah remains a significant threat not only to Israel’s northern border, but to the entire country, as it still possesses several hundred medium and long-range missiles.
Because of this volatile reality, the IDF has conducted a series of operations targeting both senior and lower levels of leadership in Hezbollah to degrade its ability to regroup and rearm. From February 16 through February 22, the IDF conducted operations in 25 areas of Lebanon, including air strikes, artillery missions, drone strikes, and ground operations.
IDF Strikes in Lebanon – Weekly Summary
During the week of 16–23 February, nine airstrikes were carried out in Lebanese territory. Four strikes were conducted in the Beqaa region, five in south Lebanon- three south of the Litani River, and two north of it.
Nine Hezbollah… pic.twitter.com/mDx0JyhRdE
— Israel-Alma (@Israel_Alma_org) February 23, 2026
The threat posed by Hezbollah is not isolated. It is part of a broader regional network backed by Iran, designed to encircle Israel with multiple fronts and sustained pressure. Since the outbreak of anti-regime protests in Iran, the IDF has remained on heightened alert, suspecting renewed rocket and missile attacks against the country.
New reports have warned that if Israel and the Iranian regime are to return to war, Hezbollah will likely join the fight. This would be a change in the terror organization’s strategy, after having sat out of the war between Israel and Iran in June 2025.
With Hezbollah’s degraded military capabilities, the military organization has effectively handed much of its restructuring and rebuilding efforts to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). IRGC officers have been meeting with Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon. Following one of these meetings between the IRGC and Hezbollah at a missile unit site in the Beqaa Valley, the IDF targeted the site, killing eight Hezbollah terrorists.
When this strike was reported in the international media, none of the above context was provided. Instead, the BBC, The Guardian, and Sky News all omitted from their headlines that those killed included eight terrorists. The lede was buried as the outlets suggested that the IDF operation was not based on precise intelligence to remove a looming threat, but rather an indiscriminate targeting of Lebanese civilians. The media have previously similarly framed any targeted strike as an Israeli violation of the ceasefire, rather than a measure to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its military infrastructure.
There is a wider point to be made about this glaring @BBCNews headline omission – which, as you can see, was community noted.
Yes, the body of the report confirms that eight of the ten killed were Hezbollah members, including a senior commander.
Yes, that context is absent from… https://t.co/D78vHCgLww
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) February 23, 2026
All of this unfolds against the larger reality that Hezbollah continues its refusal to adhere to the ceasefire agreement it signed. In a speech on February 16, Secretary-General Naim Qassem made clear the organization’s refusal to disarm. While the Lebanese Armed Forces have claimed the disarmament has begun and that it has taken “operational control” of the area south of the Litani River – from which Hezbollah is required to withdraw – Israel’s targeting of Hezbollah infrastructure in those areas suggests the process is far from complete.
Hezbollah today is a fractured version of the terrorist organization it once was. Its leadership is weakened, and its rocket arsenal is nowhere near the extent it was before October 2023. Yet the presence of the terrorist organization on Israel’s northern border remains. Its apparent willingness to join the Iranian regime if a new round of fighting is to break out only goes to display that it has not strayed from its goal of destroying the Jewish state.
The media might try to look away from this reality, but Israel cannot – nor can it afford the consequences of ignoring the security threat.
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