Netanyahu Orders IDF Strikes on Hezbollah Targets After Rockets Hit Northern Israel

Lebanon’s border with Israel entered a new phase of escalation after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to “forcefully suppress Hezbollah activity in Lebanon” on Sunday, April 26, following a breach of a fragile regional truce, Reuters reported.

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An-Nahar

The directive from the Prime Minister’s Office instructed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to “forcefully attack Hezbollah targets” after militants launched two rockets at northern Israel.

An-Nahar

Kyiv Post reported that while one missile was successfully intercepted and no casualties were reported, the IDF responded with nighttime airstrikes on rocket launchers in three locations across southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military also targeted groups of militants and facilities belonging to the Radwan unit, Hezbollah’s elite special forces, according to the same report.

The escalation came just days after US President Donald Trump announced a three-week extension of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, with the agreement allowing Israel to take “all necessary measures in self-defense,” a clause Netanyahu cited to justify continued strikes.

Hezbollah dismissed the truce as “meaningless,” pointing to persistent Israeli operations on Lebanese soil as justification for its own retaliation.

The Kyiv Post account also tied the intensifying violence near the border to a US military presence in the region, including a third aircraft carrier and a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

As fighting intensified along the Lebanon-Israel border, Israel’s Home Front Command tightened guidance for northern communities, with the Jerusalem Post reporting that the updated security guidelines took effect on Sunday and ran through Monday.

The new rules limited gatherings in communities along the Lebanese border to no more than 1,500 people, and they came into effect at 22:30 on Sunday and ended at 20:00 on Monday.

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The Jerusalem Post also said Ynet reported that the Conflict Line Forum decided, independently of the Home Front Command guidelines, to declare communities to be at “orange” alert and shut down schools and education centers beginning on Tuesday.

The Jerusalem Post quoted Moshe Davidovitz, head of the Mateh Asher Regional Council and chairman of the Confrontation Line Forum, saying, “I am furious at the disconnect of those sitting in the ivory tower from the reality of the parents, students, and residents here.”

He added, “Not only is this not a green policy, but it is a spit in the face of the children of the conflict line.”

Davidovitz further said, “The blood of our children is not in vain, and we will not wait for a disaster to make life-saving decisions.”

The Jerusalem Post linked the growing security concern to “intensifying exchanges between Hezbollah and the IDF in southern Lebanon in recent days,” and it described a dispute after the April 17 ceasefire over whether the ceasefire applied only north of the Litani River.

A separate Israeli media framing, carried by Middle East Monitor, portrayed the Lebanon war as politically costly for Israel while arguing there is “no military solution to Hezbollah’s missiles in the north.”

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to forcefully suppress Hezbollah activity in Lebanon on Sunday, April 26, following a breach of the fragile regional truce, Reuters reported”

Kyiv Post

The report said the Israel Hayom newspaper cited a senior official who argued that despite criticism about the ceasefire with Hezbollah announced Saturday, halting the fighting remains the only way to stop rocket and missile fire on northern Israeli towns.

It added that the Israeli Cabinet had never instructed the army to eliminate Hezbollah’s military power, describing dismantling Hezbollah as a broader objective that was “not defined as one to be achieved solely through military means.”

The official acknowledged that targeted assassinations and other military operations may weaken Hezbollah, but “cannot completely stop the group’s missile and rocket launches.”

Middle East Monitor said achieving that militarily would require “a far more drastic offensive and a massive increase in manpower that is currently unrealistic,” especially as the Israeli army remains overstretched across multiple fronts and continues to repeatedly call up reservists.

The report also claimed that the threat of a ground incursion into northern Israeli towns had been removed, raising doubts about whether resuming the offensive would bring significant military benefit.

It also provided a casualty and displacement tally attributed to Lebanese authorities: “Since March 2, expanded Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed nearly 2,500 people and displaced over 1 million,” and it referenced US President Donald Trump’s “10-day ceasefire” announced on April 17 and later extended by an additional three weeks.

Israeli assessments described by the site referenced as “Al-Modon” suggested the northern front with Lebanon was moving toward a “more complex phase,” with estimates inside Israel’s security establishment that the confrontation “has not yet peaked.”

The report said military assessments pointed to a possible escalation and widening pace of rocket and drone launches from Lebanon in the coming period, and it described Israeli security circles acknowledging Hezbollah’s ability to reorganize its ranks and regain part of its battlefield capabilities despite blows it had suffered.

Middle East Monitor

It also reported growing concern inside Israel about Hezbollah’s specialized units, especially those involved in operating drones, being able to adapt to wartime conditions and deployment in ways that complicate the Israeli army’s mission.

In a report by Walla, the article quoted an officer saying that “the Hezbollah unit specializing in operating drones has rebuilt itself.”

It further said IDF Northern Command officers warned that Hezbollah’s Unit 127, specialized in operating drones, may have recovered from the heavy blows it sustained during the operation 'Sahm al-Shamal.'

A reserve officer was quoted explaining how the unit operates: “It’s simple on their side. They move in cars or hide in civilians' homes, take drone parts from a warehouse or the car trunk, assemble them, and operate them under the cover of a building or an olive grove or dense trees.”

The article also quoted a senior Israeli position that “We are in a process that will take time,” and it said “the targeting of launch platforms continues around the clock.”

Alongside the operational debate over rockets and drones, Israeli reporting described proposals for a new security reality along the border strip, including a “demilitarized zone” or “temporary buffer zone” inside southern Lebanon.

“Home Front Command updated its security guidelines for Israel's northern communities on Sunday, in light of the increasing tensions between Hezbollah and Israel”

The Jerusalem Post

The article said that in a report published by Yisrael Hayom, it stated: “While residents of southern Lebanon were moved north of the Litani River, the truth on the ground remains far from decisive.”

The Jerusalem Post

It added that the proposed solution “lies in broad deployment across the region so Hezbollah cannot control key points.”

The report said that “In recent days, IDF forces have urged residents of villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate north of the Litani River,” and it described this step as part of efforts to create a new security reality along the border strip.

The article said defense establishment and communities along Israel’s northern border described the evacuation as efforts to remove the direct threat to Israeli towns, while noting that many officials avoid using the familiar term “the security area” because of its “heavy historical baggage.”

Instead, it said officials refer to a “demilitarized zone” or “temporary buffer zone” aimed at pushing Hezbollah away from the northern settlements.

Taken together, the sources show that the Litani River appears both in ceasefire interpretation and in evacuation guidance, while Israeli officials plan for a longer-term border arrangement.