IDF doubles troops operating in southern Lebanon, intensifies ground op & airstrikes against Hezbollah

The IDF expanded its ground operation and the overall campaign against Hezbollah, as a second division entered southern Lebanon and began fighting on the hills opposite the Israeli town of Margaliot, in the Galilee Panhandle area, early Monday morning.

The IDF said that troops of the 36th Division “began a targeted and limited raid… to locate and eliminate terrorists and dismantle Hezbollah’s infrastructure.”

“Prior to the entry of ground forces, firepower was employed, and numerous terrorist targets were struck from both the air and the ground,” the military explained, noting that this was part of an overall effort to establish “forward defensive positions” on Lebanese territory aimed at depriving Hezbollah of the launch sites it used to devastate large parts of northern Israel in 2023 and 2024 with direct missile and rocket fire.

The IDF has not detailed how far Israeli troops have been advancing into southern Lebanon; however, Ynet News reported that the new troops were operating near the village Rab al-Thalathin, which lies just over the border, indicating that current operations are limited to the immediate border area.

More than 100 strikes were carried out in Lebanon in the past day, the military says, amid the ongoing fighting against Hezbollah.

The IDF says the targets included weapon depots and dozens of other military sites belonging to the terror group.

In Beirut's southern suburbs, the… pic.twitter.com/Nt33hxsrzd

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 8, 2026

At least twenty people were killed in the Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon and Beirut's Dahiyeh district, according to Lebanese reports.

In the Dahiyeh, IDF strikes targeted branches of the al-Qard al-Hassan organization, a U.S.-sanctioned quasi-bank serving as Hezbollah's financial institution.

According to Ynet News, citing military sources, Israeli forces have struck over 700 Hezbollah targets, 120 of them in the last 24 hours alone, since the terror group decided to support its Iranian patrons and joined the war.

Hezbollah on Monday praised the elevation of Mojtaba Khamenei to the post of Iran’s Supreme Leader. In a statement, the group sent “warmest congratulations and blessings on this occasion, renewing our pledge and loyalty to this blessed path and steadfastness on the line of guardianship.”

The group sees the Iranian Supreme Leader as its own highest authority and spiritual leader.

Israeli strikes killed around 300 Hezbollah terrorists so far and destroyed some 50 buildings, the IDF told Ynet. “The message is clear. We will continue attacking from the air and targeting the Radwan forces.”

IDF officials characterized the current operation not as “a ground maneuver but a raid operation based on intelligence. Hezbollah and Iran are one and the same, and we will not allow it to operate in the area—not in Beirut and nowhere else.”

🔊 LISTEN NOW: “Get rid of Hezbollah already—I’m with you, they forced us out of our homes”

The IDF is issuing evacuation notices to residents in areas where the IDF is conducting strikes against Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure.

Listen to a declassified call of a resident… pic.twitter.com/DQZbSyBFau

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 9, 2026

On Monday, the IDF released a recorded call between IDF intelligence officers from Unit 504 and Lebanese citizens, warning them to evacuate.

A resident of Hezbollah’s Beirut stronghold, the Dahiyeh, told an IDF officer that the group is forcing residents out of their homes and threatening them, stressing that the Lebanese people stand with the Lebanese state and not with the terror group.

The IDF noted that Hezbollah operates sites that are used to manufacture and develop weapons in the Dahiyeh and has weapons stockpiles that include advanced Iranian precision missiles “stored within civilian infrastructure, including in residences throughout Lebanon. Over the past two years, the IDF has struck targets like these, including weapons storage facilities, manufacturing sites, and missiles and rockets held by the organization.”

❗️🎥WATCH: Armed Hezbollah terrorists enter and attempt to exploit a site in a Christian village in southern Lebanon

Following the identification, IDF troops directed an Israeli Air Force fighter jet, which struck and eliminated the terrorist cell. pic.twitter.com/yFHlb8U0sJ

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 9, 2026

In another incident, IDF troops spotted a Hezbollah terrorist cell entering a site in a Christian area on Monday. Christian villages have been largely exempt from evacuation orders and have seen little fighting or Israeli airstrikes, as Hezbollah mostly operates out of villages of the Shia Muslim majority in southern Lebanon.

“Following the identification, the troops directed an Israeli Air Force fighter jet, which struck and eliminated the terrorist cell,” the IDF said, noting that “the presence of terrorists in the area constitutes another example of the cynical exploitation of civilian infrastructure for terrorist activity by Hezbollah.”

Speaking on Sunday at a situational assessment at the Home Front Command, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir stressed that “Hezbollah is an extremist arm of the Iranian octopus – it is paying and will continue to pay a heavy price.”

“Overnight, we operated against Iranian Quds Force commanders in Lebanon – in Beirut - and targeted them. I tell you that there is no safe place for the Iranian axis of evil anywhere in the Middle East – not in Beirut and not anywhere else.”

He also noted that “we experienced significant fire toward the communities of northern Israel, and there was also an incident during the night.”

Hezbollah has been launching dozens of rocket and drone attacks against Israel in recent days, including at least 12 attacks at the time of publication on Monday.