5 killed in Israel by Hezbollah airstrike as IDF eliminates terrorist group's special forces commander

Five people died in a Hezbollah rocket attack in northern Israel on Thursday, one day after an Israel Defense Forces airstrike killed a commander within the terrorist group's special forces unit.

The Hezbollah attack in Metula – a town located along the Israel-Lebanon border – left an Israeli farmer and four foreign agricultural workers dead, while a fifth foreign worker was seriously injured, a local official told the TPS news agency.

The Wednesday strike eliminated Mustafa Ahmad Shahadi of Hezbollah's Radwan Forces and was carried out near the city of Nabatieh, south of Beirut, according to the Israel Defense Forces. 

"Mustafa Ahmad Shahadi advanced numerous terror attacks against the State of Israel," the IDF said in a statement. "His targeting is part of the effort to degrade Hezbollah’s Radwan Forces' capabilities to direct and execute terror activities against IDF troops and communities in the northern border, in particular the ‘Conquer the Galilee’ plan." 

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Israel’s military has described the plan as Hezbollah’s "own October 7th massacre on Israel's northern border, but on an even larger scale." 

"Shahadi was previously responsible for the Radwan Forces' operations during combat in Syria between 2012 and 2017, and additionally oversaw terror attacks in southern Lebanon," the IDF also said. "The IDF will continue to operate against the terrorists and commanders of the Hezbollah terrorist organization and any threat posed to the citizens of Israel." 

Meanwhile, Lebanon’s health ministry said Wednesday that 19 people were killed by Israeli strikes near the city of Baalbek, including eight women. 

The IDF says it was carrying out strikes targeting "command and control centers and terrorist infrastructure that were used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization" in that region. 

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"Hezbollah systematically abuses civilian infrastructure and areas throughout Lebanon to plan and execute terrorist activities, deliberately endangering the lives of Lebanese civilians," according to the IDF. 

Prior to those strikes, the Israeli military had warned residents to evacuate their homes for their own safety. 

"You are in a combat zone where the IDF intends to attack and target Hezbollah infrastructure, interests, installations and combat equipment and does not intend to harm you," IDF Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on X. 

The IDF also says on Thursday it struck weapons storage facilities and command centers in Syria being used by Hezbollah's Radwan Forces and Munitions Unit. 

The unit is responsible for storing weapons inside Lebanon and has recently expanded its activities into the town of Al-Qusayr, near the Syrian-Lebanese border. Hezbollah has been establishing logistical infrastructure to facilitate the transfer of weapons from Syria into Lebanon via border crossings.

In recent months, the IDF has been carrying out strikes to reduce the transfer of weapons from Iran through Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The strike on the weapons storage facilities in the area of Al-Qusayr is part of a larger effort targeting the infrastructure of Unit 4400, the Hezbollah unit responsible for smuggling weapons from Iran, through Syria, and into Lebanon. This includes recent strikes on several border crossings between Syria and Lebanon used by Hezbollah for weapons smuggling.

Fox News' Yonat Friling and Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.