The IDF said Friday it has launched more than 500 strikes across Lebanon since Hezbollah entered the widening regional war earlier this week.

The IDF said the wave of attacks has targeted key elements of Hezbollah’s military infrastructure, including senior commanders, members of its elite Radwan Force, rocket launch sites, command centers, and weapons depots.

Israeli strikes have also hit operatives and facilities belonging to other terrorist groups operating in Lebanon, according to the military.

The bombardment began after Hezbollah formally joined the conflict on Monday, opening a northern front against Israel while Israeli and American forces continued their air campaign against Iran.

The fighting has triggered a large-scale civilian exodus across southern Lebanon. The IDF said it estimates around 420,000 Lebanese civilians have evacuated their homes in the south after Israel ordered residents to leave the area and move north of the Litani River, a boundary Israel has long sought to push Hezbollah’s forces beyond.

The evacuation order came amid heavy Israeli airstrikes and warnings that the military would intensify operations against Hezbollah positions embedded across villages and towns in the region.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands more residents have fled Beirut’s southern suburbs, a densely populated Hezbollah stronghold known as the group’s political and military heartland.

Israel issued evacuation warnings for the area on Thursday afternoon before launching additional strikes.

Among the targets struck in the past several days were members of Hezbollah’s Radwan Force, the organization’s elite unit tasked with cross-border infiltration operations against Israel. Israeli officials have long viewed the Radwan Force as one of Hezbollah’s most dangerous capabilities, trained for rapid incursions into northern Israeli communities in the event of a full-scale war.

The IDF said the ongoing strikes aim to dismantle Hezbollah’s operational network and degrade its ability to launch rockets and other attacks into Israel.

Hezbollah has not yet released a full account of its casualties or losses, though the group has acknowledged that several of its fighters have been killed since the fighting began.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)