In a powerful and decisive escalation of its campaign to neutralize threats against its citizens, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Sunday the elimination of two high-ranking Hezbollah terrorists in a series of targeted airstrikes deep inside Southern Lebanon.
One of the slain operatives was Hussein Ali Nasr, the deputy commander of Hezbollah’s notorious Unit 4400 — the elite logistical network tasked with the clandestine smuggling of sophisticated weapons and illicit funds into Lebanon. According to IDF intelligence, Nasr was not merely a functionary; he was a linchpin in Hezbollah’s terror machine, orchestrating arms shipments alongside Iranian operatives and exploiting civilian infrastructure, including Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport, as a critical conduit for the movement of deadly armaments.
JUST IN đź”´
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) April 20, 2025
An Israeli drone strike ELIMINATED Hezbollah commander Hussein Ali Nasr in southern Lebanon. He was the deputy chief of Unit 4400, responsible for smuggling weapons and funds into Lebanon, often via Beirut airport and the Syria-Lebanon border. The strike is part of… pic.twitter.com/MRobEEjgNS
In a statement, the IDF made clear that the strike against Nasr was "part of ongoing operations to dismantle Hezbollah’s terror infrastructure and eliminate imminent threats to Israeli civilians across multiple fronts."
The second major target was identified as the head of Hezbollah’s engineering division in the volatile Al-Aadaissah sector, a figure deeply involved in fortification building, tunnel construction, and the deployment of lethal devices intended for use against Israeli forces and civilians.
In addition to the high-profile assassinations, Israeli warplanes conducted a barrage of strikes near Nabatieh, obliterating multiple Hezbollah rocket launchers and critical terrorist infrastructure. The military described these actions as a direct response to Hezbollah’s continued and brazen violations of the ceasefire understandings established with Lebanon.
“These strikes are not just defensive measures — they are essential preemptive actions against Hezbollah’s growing military entrenchment, which poses an existential threat to the State of Israel and its citizens,” the IDF declared.
Hussein Ali Nasr, also known as "Abu Ali Hassan", from the village of Haruf, deputy commander of Hezbollah's Unit 4400, was killed today in an airstrike while driving his vehicle on the road between the villages of Al-Charqiyeh and Kaouthariyet El Saiyad, southern Lebanon.
— Israel-Alma (@Israel_Alma_org) April 20, 2025
Nasr… pic.twitter.com/KFKXr9U1H0
Southern Lebanon: A Powder Keg Nearing Ignition
Tensions in Southern Lebanon have been steadily intensifying following the collapse of the fragile ceasefire on February 18, 2025. Originally brokered on November 27, 2024, the ceasefire ended more than a year of brutal warfare sparked by Hezbollah’s unprovoked attacks on Israeli territory in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’s genocidal invasion of Israel’s south on October 7, 2023.
Despite withdrawing most ground forces following the cessation of major hostilities, Israel has strategically retained control over five critical military positions in Southern Lebanon — a move officials insist is necessary until the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) prove capable of imposing order and restraining Hezbollah’s militarized grip over the south.
Security experts warn that Hezbollah has no intention of complying with international mandates. Instead of disbanding its paramilitary wing, as demanded by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, Hezbollah is reportedly maneuvering to embed its trained terrorists directly into Lebanon’s official state institutions, cementing a dangerous and destabilizing "state within a state" scenario.
🔴ELIMINATED: Deputy Head of Hezbollah’s Weapons Smuggling Unit 4400
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) April 20, 2025
The IAF conducted an intelligence-based strike on terrorist Hussein Ali Nasr, deputy head of Hezbollah’s Unit 4400.
During his role, Nasr operated to smuggle weapons and funds into Lebanon in order to rebuild… pic.twitter.com/y55KqXHex0
U.S. Diplomatic Warnings: Disarm Hezbollah or Face the Consequences
Adding weight to Israel’s position, Morgan Ortagus, the U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for the Middle East, issued a stern warning during her recent three-day mission to Beirut. Speaking to the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International (LBCI), Ortagus demanded the immediate disarmament of Hezbollah and all other armed militias operating within Lebanese territory.
"We know that the sooner the LAF is able to meet these goals and disarm all militias in the state, the sooner the Lebanese people can be free," Ortagus said, underlining American impatience with the current unsustainable status quo.
Despite international pressure, Hezbollah continues to operate with near-total impunity, backed by Iranian funding, strategic planning, and weaponry — a lethal alliance that Israel is increasingly determined to dismantle before it metastasizes into a regional catastrophe.
