The Israeli army announces 'special and targeted operations' in southern Lebanon: What are they about?

The Israeli army announced Wednesday that it had launched "special and targeted operations" in southern Lebanon to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure.

"Following intelligence information and the identification of Hezbollah weapons and terrorist infrastructure in several areas of southern Lebanon, soldiers launched special and targeted operations to dismantle them and prevent Hezbollah from reestablishing itself in the region ," an Israeli military statement said.

According to Israeli troops, one suspected Hezbollah militant, Hussein Ali Muzhir, was killed in the operations. They identified him as the Shiite group's weapons chief in the southern Zahrani sector of the Badr unit, according to a military statement.

"As part of his work, Hussein carried out numerous attacks against Israeli and IDF troops, and was recently involved in Hezbollah's attempts to establish artillery capabilities in southern Lebanon ," the military said.

For Israel, the militant's activities constitute a "flagrant violation" of the November 2024 ceasefire agreement with Lebanon.

Israel continues to bomb Lebanese territory almost daily since the ceasefire came into effect, although its attacks tend to concentrate on the south of the country, with occasional bombings near Beirut.

Yesterday, the Israeli army confirmed it had killed a "key" Hamas commander in a rare attack near Tripoli, in northern Lebanon . It is the first Israeli airstrike targeting the area since the ceasefire went into effect and the second since the escalation of hostilities following the Islamist attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Since the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect on November 27, Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 250 people in Lebanon , according to the Qatari network Al Jazeera , citing figures from the Lebanese Ministry of Health.