The IDF on Monday said that once it completes its operation against Hezbollah in Bint Jbail in southern Lebanon in the coming days, there will not be any remaining major fights for it to undertake in the area.
In addition, the IDF added that there were still several areas where it would continue to clear Hezbollah weapons that it had found during its invasion of southern Lebanon.
Such clearing operations could continue for a longer, somewhat indefinite period.
Further, the IDF might still engage in limited fighting with leftover Hezbollah forces in parts of southern Lebanon who have not withdrawn north of the Litani River with most of Hezbollah's other forces.
IDF will have no remaining strategic targets in southern Lebanon
However, broadly speaking, the IDF will have no remaining strategic targets in southern Lebanon, and for several days since the Iran ceasefire on Tuesday-Wednesday of last week, the military has refrained from attacks in Beirut and other more strategic areas for Hezbollah.
Even ongoing air force attacks are more focused now on preventing real-time rocket crew threats to Israel's home front than they are on eliminating Hezbollah's deeper capabilities, which had been a goal of the IDF when the Israel-Hezbollah conflict was still at its height.
Regarding the Bint Jbail battle, which has already lasted several days, the IDF has already broken into the heart of the village.
The 98th Division caught Hezbollah's dozens or more fighters there by surprise, surrounding them from all sides before they could find a way to retreat and escape.
The Givati Brigade, the Paratroopers Brigade, and multiple commando units, including Maglan, have been involved in the battles in and around Bint Jbail.
Commando Brigade soldiers, including those from Maglan and Egoz Commando Units, killed three armed terrorists in an airstrike on Sunday. The terrorists were planning to carry out an imminent attack against the IDF operating in the area.
In an additional incident, the IDF located a terror cell planning to use explosive drones to attack soldiers operating in the area. The IDF located one of these terrorists, killing them in a drone strike, the military announced.
Further, the IDF located a loaded rocket launcher aimed towards Israel and destroyed it in a drone strike.
Since the 98th Division entered the Bint Jbail area, the IDF said that it has successfully eliminated rocket fire on Israel from the area.
Given that some of the heaviest fire from Lebanon had been from Bint Jbail, this has also reduced Hezbollah's ability to fire on northern Israel in broader strategic terms.
That said, Hezbollah still has significant volumes of rockets that can strike northern Israel from deeper parts of Lebanon beyond the Litani River.
The IDF admitted that despite a huge invasion of southern Lebanon for three months in the fall of 2024, it had failed to fully clear Bint Jbail of weapons at the time.
This current invasion of Bint Jbail is, in part, a corrective measure for that oversight.
In addition to the 98th Division, the 162nd, 146th, 91st, and 36th Divisions are operating in southern Lebanon.
Collectively, the IDF has killed around 1,400 Hezbollah fighters, around 100 in the Bint Jbail area.
The 98th Division Chief Brig.-Gen. Guy Levi said, "Bint Jbail, the year is 2,000. Someone here once spoke, boasting about webs and spiders. Today, that man is gone, the field is gone, and his words mean nothing."
Levi continued, "Bint Jbail, the year is 2026. Our forces control the space, destroying terrorist infrastructure and killing dozens of terrorists. Behind us are the residents of the north whom we protect, before us are the national days that remind us why and for what we are fighting."
James Genn contributed to this report.