‘No less successful than the beeper strikes’: IDF continues pounding Hezbollah as Beirut, Paris & London urge Israel to stop

With the start of the ceasefire in Iran on Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched its new operation codenamed “Eternal Darkness” by striking over 100 Hezbollah targets in less than 10 minutes, drawing strong condemnations from the Lebanese, French and British governments.

According to the Israeli military, the wave of strikes was the largest since the start of the current round of fighting, and hit over 100 headquarters, military arrays, and command-and-control centers in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon.

According to i24 News, citing IDF sources, the opening sortie to “Eternal Darkness” was “no less successful than the Beeper Operation.”

“A new capability made it possible to locate Hezbollah's alternative headquarters and strike directly at command levels. The result: widespread damage to the core of Hezbollah's command and control—a surprise blow planned as the opening strike of the operation even before the war, adapted after Hezbollah changed its deployment,” reported military correspondent Yossi Yehoshua.

As long as Hezbollah continues to threaten our civilians, we will continue to operate against them. pic.twitter.com/TD5VOGLcNO

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) April 8, 2026

“According to estimates, hundreds of operatives were killed, including many commanders—a factor that distinguishes the operation from Operation ‘Beeper’ in which mainly terrorists and not commanders were killed.”

The Lebanese newspaper L’Orient LeJour reported that fighter jet strikes were registered in 68 sites in southern Lebanon, while drones struck another 14 targets, and 18 villages, presumably near the border, were hit by artillery bombardments.

The IDF noted that “most of the infrastructure that was struck was located within the heart of the civilian population, as part of Hezbollah's cynical exploitation of Lebanese civilians as human shields in order to safeguard its operations,” adding that it took steps “to mitigate harm to uninvolved individuals as much as possible.”

Lebanese media reports fresh Israeli strikes in Beirut's southern suburbs. pic.twitter.com/7xquk5tUEE

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

A senior security official told Ynet News that Wednesday’s strikes raised the number of Hezbollah terrorists killed since the start of Operation Roaring Lion to over 1,500.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese Health Ministry said that 182 people were killed on Wednesday, without differentiating between civilians and terrorists. Lebanese Civil Defense claimed that 254 people were killed.

Authorities declared a day of national mourning for the victims of the strikes on Thursday.

In response, Hezbollah resumed rocket fire at Israel by targeting the northern communities of Manara and Margaliot overnight, after a nine-hour lull which it used to claim that it, contrary to Israel, saw itself bound by the ceasefire in Iran.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun affirmed on Wednesday that he hoped his country would be included in the regional truce, while calling on Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory and for Hezbollah and other non-state groups to disarm.

“The complete sovereignty of the state over all its territory, its liberation from any occupying presence, and the exclusive right to declare war and peace and to use legitimate force, is solely in the hands of its constitutional institutions,” he stressed.

The Israeli Air Force publishes footage of fighter jets heading out to carry out a major wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon earlier today. pic.twitter.com/RqFdc8oKPH

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

Lebanese sources told to the newspaper Nidaa al-Watan that Washington had informed Beirut that Lebanon is not included in the ceasefire agreement, and added that French President Macron called Aoun to confirm that he is in contact with Washington and Jerusalem to include Lebanon in the ceasefire.

Macron strongly condemned Israel’s “indiscriminate strikes,” which he claimed “resulted in a very high number of civilian casualties.”

“We condemn these strikes in the strongest possible terms. They pose a direct threat to the sustainability of the ceasefire that has just been reached,” Macron said, while also stressing “France’s determination to support the efforts of the Lebanese authorities to… implement the Hezbollah disarmament plan.”

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper also called Israel’s strikes on Hezbollah “deeply damaging,” telling Times Radio that the UK wants the ceasefire “extended to cover Lebanon, because otherwise that will destabilize the whole region.”

Hezbollah continues to claim that the original terms of the ceasefire stipulated that Lebanon would be included, pointing to a statement from Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Hussein Jashi, a Hezbollah parliament member, claimed on Wednesday that Israel is trying to “evade its commitment to the ceasefire” because it failed to achieve anything on the battlefield.

On the ground in southern Lebanon, the IDF continued to advance on pockets left in Hezbollah control near the border.

An Israeli soldier was killed and five others were wounded during a clash with Hezbollah gunmen in southern Lebanon yesterday, the military announces.

The slain soldier is named as Touvel Yosef Lifshiz, 20, of the Golani Brigade's 13th Battalion, from Beit She'an.

According to… pic.twitter.com/hxspHITpm5

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

On Wednesday, the military stated that Staff Sgt. Tuval Yosef Lifshitz (20) from Beit Shean, a soldier in the Golani Brigade, was killed in battle, and five other soldiers were wounded.

In the central sector of southern Lebanon, IDF troops are now completing the encirclement of the town of Bint Jbeil, a symbolically important stronghold of Hezbollah and one of the largest towns near the border that hasn’t been captured yet, Ynet News reported.

Israeli troops reportedly caught dozens of Hezbollah terrorists by surprise through the overnight operation, killing dozens while they tried to flee the trap, while the rest are being systematically eliminated as IDF units are moving in to clear the town of Hezbollah presence.