The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted numerous operations throughout Lebanon against Hezbollah between February 16 and February 22, 2026. While Israeli activities this week mostly consisted of policing operations along the Israel-Lebanon frontier, the IDF carried out several targeted killings of Hezbollah personnel allegedly involved in the group’s regeneration efforts south of the Litani River, and more significant strikes against Hezbollah assets and personnel as far north as the area surrounding Baalbek. The Israeli military also targeted Hamas personnel inside Lebanon’s Ain Al Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp.
Hezbollah’s officials continued to reject disarmament this week. These rejections included Secretary-General Naim Qassem in his office holder’s customary annual February 16 speech and Hezbollah’s cabinet ministers after the Lebanese government voted on proceeding with the second phase of the Lebanese Armed Forces disarmament plan between the Litani and Awali Rivers. While Lebanese Information Minister Paul Morcos, who often functions as the government’s spokesman, said the disarmament process would take at least four months, he added the caveat that the deadline would be extended if the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) lacked the necessary capabilities and Israel continued its operations in Lebanon.
Notably, the LAF claimed to have completed the first phase of its disarmament plan and to have taken “operational control” of the area south of the Litani River on January 8, 2026. However, Israeli strikes on Hezbollah assets and personnel involved in the group’s local regeneration efforts have continued in that sector, including several last week.
By mid-week, Major General Rafi Milo, head of the IDF’s OC Northern Command, which is responsible for operations in Lebanon, ordered his forces to adopt a more aggressive approach against Hezbollah’s regeneration efforts. This effort emphasizes targeted killings, strikes on military infrastructure, including tunnel shafts and weapons depots, and expanded freedom of action for IDF forces in southern Lebanon. In the two days following this order, the Israeli military expanded its operations in Lebanon, culminating in a February 20 strike in Riyaq in northeast Lebanon that killed 10 Hezbollah operatives who were part of the group’s missile array. Some reports also indicated Israel had destroyed Hezbollah long-range missiles, equipped with warheads and ready for deployment, in the strike. However, this information was not confirmed by an IDF statement. Hezbollah responded to the strikes by reiterating its commitment to “resistance” against Israel.
The strikes, IDF sources said, were meant to degrade Hezbollah’s rocket and missile capabilities in case the group sought to resume hostilities as tensions between Iran and the United States remain high. The sources said that the Israeli military had identified preparations by Hezbollah’s rocket and missile forces to strike Israel if the United States targets Iran.
Secretary-General Qassem recently said that Hezbollah would not remain idle in case of such an attack, though he did not specify how his group would respond. Al Arabiya, quoting unnamed sources “close to Hezbollah,” alleged that the group was bracing for an Israeli attack and drawing up battle plans, while Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) allegedly sent officers to Lebanon to direct Hezbollah. Meanwhile, as Israel’s security cabinet convened on Sunday, Israeli Channel 11 indicated that officials discussed the possibility of an escalation by Hezbollah if the Tehran regime is attacked.
The IDF conducted operations in 25 Lebanese locales, some of them more than once. These activities included:
- Airstrikes: Eight+
- Artillery missions: Nine
- Detonations: Five
- Drone strikes: Five
- Ground activities: Four
- Naval operations: Possibly one
- Quadcopter activities: Eight
- Tank fire: One
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Baalbek-Hermel Governorate
- Baalbek District: Anti-Lebanon Mountain Range, Mahallet al Shaara, Mount Lebanon Range, Qasrnaba, Riyaq, and Tamnin al Tahta
Nabatieh Governorate
- Bint Jbeil District: Aitaroun, Ayta Ash Shaab, Ayta Ash Shaab-Ramyeh, Beit Lif, Beit Lif-Ramyeh, Hanine, Maroun al Ras, and Yaroun
- Marjayoun District: Adaisseh, Houla, Khiam, Markaba, and Sarda-Wazzani
South Lebanon Governorate
- Sidon District: Ain Al Hilweh and Tebna
- Tyre District: Labbouneh, Maaroub, Marwahin, and Shihine
Casualties
Between February 16 and February 22, 2026, Israeli operations in Lebanon killed 14 people—10 of them Hezbollah operatives and two Hamas operatives—and wounded 27 individuals.
- February 16, 2026: Two Hezbollah operatives were killed.
- February 17, 2026: No casualties were reported.
- February 18, 2026: No casualties were reported.
- February 19, 2026: No casualties were reported.
- February 20, 2026: Two Hamas operatives were killed, eight Hezbollah operatives were killed, one male Syrian national was killed, one female Ethiopian national was killed, one Hezbollah operative succumbed to prior wounds, and 24 unidentified individuals and three children were wounded.
- February 21, 2026: No casualties were reported.
- February 22, 2026: No casualties were reported.
Chronology of Israeli operations against Hezbollah, February 16–22, 2026
February 16
- NNA Lebanon reported that at 7:00 am, an Israeli drone targeted two vehicles with several missiles in Hanine in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Bint Jbeil District. The strike killed one person, reported as Mohammad Tahsin Hussain Qashaqesh, allegedly in front of his home. Afterward, Qashaqesh was transferred to Martyr Salah Ghandour Hospital in Bint Jbeil, which is operated by Hezbollah’s Islamic Health Committee. NNA Lebanon claimed that Qashaqesh used the targeted vehicle to transport students to their schools. The IDF released a statement saying it had targeted a Hezbollah operative near Hanine. Hezbollah-affiliated social media later announced the death of Hezbollah operative Mohammad Tahsin Hussain Ahmad Qashaqesh, whose nom de guerre was Abu Dawoud, from Hanine. The IDF released a subsequent statement saying that Qashaqesh had been involved in the restoration of Hezbollah’s military infrastructure near Hanine “in violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.” The statement also noted that the IDF had killed three Hezbollah operatives similarly involved in regeneration activities in the preceding week and destroyed infrastructure and equipment used for that purpose. Hezbollah gave Qashaqesh a military funeral in his hometown.
- At 8:22 am, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli patrol detonated a house on the outskirts of Ayta Ash Shaab and Ramyeh in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Bint Jbeil District.
- At 12:28 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli drone targeted the area near a bulldozer that was allegedly clearing the remains of a home targeted during the recent war in Maaroub in the South Lebanon Governorate’s Tyre District.
- At 3:15 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that Israeli artillery targeted Wadi Muzlem on the outskirts of Beit Lif in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Bint Jbeil District.
- At 4:18 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that Israeli artillery positioned inside Israel targeted the Kasayer area between Ramyeh and Beit Lif, striking near some houses in Beit Lif.
- At 7:08 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli drone targeted a vehicle in Tallouseh in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District. The strike killed one person. The IDF released a statement saying that it had just targeted a Hezbollah operative near Tallouseh. Hezbollah later announced the funeral of Hezbollah operative Ahmad Hussain Turmos, whose nom de guerre was Abu Hussain, from Tallouseh. The IDF released a subsequent statement saying that Turmos was “involved in efforts to restore Hezbollah’s military infrastructure near Tallouseh,” and that he “acted as a Hezbollah liaison officer in Tallouseh […] overseeing contacts between the organization and the village’s residents in military and economic matters, and worked on the acquisition of private property to be used for terror purposes […] in violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.” Hezbollah gave Turmos a military funeral in his hometown.
February 17
- At 9:38 am, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli quadcopter dropped a stun explosive in Ayta Ash Shaab in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Bint Jbeil District.
- At 12:13 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli quadcopter dropped a stun explosive on Labbouneh in the South Lebanon Governorate’s Tyre District.
- At 4:43 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli quadcopter dropped another explosive in Ayta Ash Shaab, bringing the day’s total to four.
February 18
- No operations were reported.
February 19
- NNA Lebanon reported that, overnight, Israeli airstrikes targeted Tebna, toward Tuffahta, in the South Lebanon Governorate’s Sidon District. At 12:22 am, the IDF released an initial statement saying that it was “targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in south Lebanon.” A subsequent statement said that the Israeli military had “targeted weapons storage facilities, missile launchers, and military sites used by Hezbollah to advance terror initiatives against the State of Israel,” the existence of which “violates the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
- NNA Lebanon reported that, overnight, an Israeli patrol conducted a detonation on the southern outskirts of Yaroun in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Bint Jbeil District.
- NNA Lebanon reported that, at dawn, an Israeli patrol detonated a home in Wadi al Asafir in Khiam in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District.
- NNA Lebanon reported that, at dawn, an Israeli patrol detonated another house in Yaroun’s southern outskirts.
- At 12:10 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli quadcopter dropped a stun explosive on the Masarib neighborhood south of Adaisseh in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District.
- At 5:43 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that Israeli artillery fired five shells at the Marjayoun Valley in the direction of Khiam, while Israeli troops positioned in the IDF’s Tel Hamames outpost directed machine-gun fire toward the area.
- At 6:52 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that Israeli artillery targeted the outskirts of Yaroun.
- At 6:58 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that Israeli artillery intermittently targeted the forested areas of Yaroun, while a shell fired from an IDF Merkava tank directly struck a house in Aitaroun in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Bint Jbeil District.
- At 7:20 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli airstrike targeted Mahallet al Shaara, near the barrens of Nabi Sheet and on the edges of the Anti-Lebanon Mountain Range, in the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate’s Baalbek District.
February 20
- NNA Lebanon reported that at 2:20 am, Israeli forces conducted a massive detonation operation near Adaisseh in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District.
- NNA Lebanon reported that at dawn, an Israeli drone fired two missiles at the facilities of a stonework factory on the outskirts of Markaba in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District, damaging the equipment.
- NNA Lebanon reported that at around 10:00 am, an Israeli drone dropped a stun explosive in Houla in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District.
- NNA Lebanon reported that at around 10:00 am, Israeli forces positioned at the IDF’s Jabal Blatt post in south Lebanon directed machine-gun fire toward the outskirts of Marwahin and Shihine in the South Lebanon Governorate’s Tyre District.
- NNA Lebanon reported that at 10:15 am, Israeli forces directed machine-gun fire toward the outskirts of Yaroun in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Bint Jbeil District.
- At 4:33 pm, the IDF released a statement saying that it had “just targeted a command center from which Hamas terrorists were operating near Ain Al Hilweh in south Lebanon.” NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli drone targeted the Hittine neighborhood of the Ain al Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in the South Lebanon Governorate’s Sidon District with three missiles. Israel’s Kan 11 reported that Israeli naval missile boats also took part in the operation. The strike killed two people and wounded three unidentified individuals. Hamas initially denied that the targeted building was one of its command centers, saying it had previously belonged to the camps’ joint Palestinian security force and had recently been rented out to a man who was using it to distribute food packages. However, the group later issued an official statement announcing the deaths of Hamas operatives Bilal Deeb al Khatib and Mohammad Tareq al Sawi. The IDF released a subsequent statement claiming that “Hamas operatives were using the targeted command center throughout the recent period for preparing terror operations against IDF troops in Lebanon, including training exercises whose objective was advancing terror initiatives against IDF troops and the State of Israel […] in violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
- At 8:25 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that Israeli airstrikes targeted areas of the Anti-Lebanon Mountain Range and Mount Lebanon in the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate’s Baalbek District.
- At 8:29 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that three Israeli airstrikes targeted Mahallet al Shaara in the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate’s Baalbek District. One of the strikes reportedly struck a building near a branch of Al Qard Al Hassan—Hezbollah’s small loans institution—on the Riyaq-Baalbek Highway and completely leveled it. The strike killed 10 people and wounded 21 unidentified individuals, including three children. Two of the fatalities appear to be civilians—one reportedly a male Syrian national and the other a female Ethiopian national—but their identities remain undisclosed. Hezbollah later announced the deaths of eight of its operatives:
- Hezbollah operative Mohammad Ibrahim Wahbi Al Musawi, whose nom de guerre was Ali Hussain, was from Nabi Sheet.
- Hezbollah operative Ali Zeid Al Musawi, whose nom de guerre was Nasser, was from Nabi Sheet.
- Hezbollah operative Hussain Khairallah Alaeddine, whose nom de guerre was Radwan, was from Hermel.
- Hezbollah operative Ahmad Hussain Al Hajj Hassan, whose nom de guerre was Mujahed, was from Shaath.
- Hezbollah operative Qassem Ali Mahdi, whose nom de guerre was Abdel Mutaleb, was from Ali Al Nahri.
- Hezbollah operative Ahmad Mohammad Zuaiter, whose nom de guerre was Ashtar, was also reported in other Hezbollah sources as Waad from Riha.
- Hezbollah operative Hassanein Yasser Al Seblani, whose nom de guerre was Aathaab, was from Shmistar.
- The IDF released a statement at 8:38 pm, saying it had targeted Hezbollah command centers near Baalbek being used to “advance terror initiatives against IDF troops and the State of Israel.” The IDF released a follow-up statement saying it had “targeted and killed Hezbollah operatives belonging to the group’s missile array forces located in three different command centers belonging to the organization.” The IDF claimed it had “recently detected efforts by the operatives to accelerate force readiness and reinforcement procedures, while planning to direct fire at the State of Israel, and advancing terror initiatives endangering IDF troops and the citizens of the State of Israel. [Hezbollah’s] missile array is responsible for firing missiles and rockets at the State of Israel and is currently planning on conducting such operations into our territory.” The IDF’s statement customarily noted that such activities were “a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
- At 8:39 pm, NNA Lebanonreported that Israeli airstrikes targeted the valleys of Qasrnaba and Tamnin al Tahta, west of Baalbek, in the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate’s Baalbek District.
- At 10:52 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli quadcopter dropped a stun explosive on Houla.
- At 11:11 pm, Hezbollah-affiliated social media announced the death of Hezbollah operative Ali Mohammad Bazzi, whose nom de guerre was Sajed, from Bint Jbeil. Bazzi was wounded in Israel’s September 17, 2024, pager detonation operation and succumbed to the wounds he sustained in that attack.
February 21
- At 6:18 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli quadcopter dropped a stun explosive in Maroun Al Ras in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Bint Jbeil District.
- At 11:14 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that Israeli artillery targeted the outskirts of Beit Lif and Ramyeh in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Bint Jbeil District.
February 22
- At 4:44 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that Israeli artillery fired incendiary shells between Sarda and Wazzani in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Marjayoun District.
- At 4:49 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that an Israeli quadcopter dropped a stun explosive near an unidentified Lebanese national in Maroun al Ras in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Bint Jbeil District.
- At 6:32 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that Israeli artillery targeted the old town of Ayta Ash Shaab in the Nabatieh Governorate’s Bint Jbeil District.
- At 8:24 pm, NNA Lebanon reported that Israeli artillery fired several shells at the old town of Ayta Ash Shaab while drones flew overhead.
Previous Entries:
- February 9-February 15, 2026
- February 2-February 8, 2026
- January 26-February 1, 2026
- January 19-January 25, 2026
- January 12-January 18, 2026
- January 5-January 11, 2026
- December 29, 2025-January 4, 2026
- December 22-December 28, 2025
- December 15-December 21, 2025
- December 8-December 14, 2025
- December 1-December 7, 2025
- November 24-November 30, 2025
- November 17-November 23, 2023
- November 10-November 16, 2025
- November 3-November 9, 2025
- October 27-November 2, 2025
- October 20-October 26, 2025
- October 13-October 19, 2025
- October 6-October 12, 2025
- September 29-October 5, 2025
- September 22-September 28, 2025
- September 15-September 21, 2025
- September 8-September 14, 2025
- September 1-September 7, 2025
- August 24-August 31, 2025
- August 18-August 24, 2025
- August 4-August 17, 2025
- July 28-August 3, 2025
- July 21-July 27, 2025
- July 14-July 20, 2025
- July 7-July 13, 2025
- June 30-July 6, 2025
- June 23-June 29, 2025
- June 16-June 22, 2025
- June 9-June 15, 2025
- June 2-June 8, 2025
- May 26-June 1, 2025
- May 19-May 25, 2025
- May 12-May 18, 2025
- April 28-May 11, 2025
- April 21-April 27, 2025
- April 14-April 20, 2025
- April 7-April 13,2025
- March 31-April 6, 2025
- March 24-April 31, 2025
- March 18-March 23, 2025
- March 13-March 17, 2025
- March 11, 2025
