Operation Arrows of the North was an Israeli military operation initiated on 23 September 2024 with the objective of pressuring the Lebanese Shia terror group Hezbollah into withdrawing north of the Litani River and allowing for displaced Israelis to return to their homes in northern Israel.
Background[]
On 8 October 2023, Hezbollah had joined in Hamas' surprise offensive against Israel by launching rockets against northern Israeli towns and IDF positions, constituting a "support front" for Gaza. Since then, Israel and Hezbollah traded fire on a near-daily basis, displacing entire communities on both sides of the border. In the summer of 2024, the border clashes between Israel and Lebanon slowly escalated after the Majdal Shams attack; Israel killed Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in an airstrike on Beirut on 30 July, resulting in Hezbollah planning a retaliatory attack for August. Israel preemptively destroyed most of Hezbollah's rocket launchers on the day of the planned strikes, but, by September, Hezbollah planned to carry out a second phase of its revenge operation against Israel, purportedly including hostage-taking raids in the Galilee and a second round of missile attacks. Israel responded by creating chaos in Lebanon by triggering the explosions of thousands of handheld pagers and walkie-talkies on 17-18 September 2024, killing 42 and injuring over 3,500. Also on 17 September, Israel's war cabinet announced a new objective in its war with Iran's proxies in the Levant: the safe return of displaced civilians to their homes in northern Israel. On 20 September, Israel killed Redwan Force leader Ibrahim Aqil and several of his subordinates in an airstrike on Beirut's Dahieh suburb as they planned an invasion of the Galilee, and the next several days saw the Israeli Air Force preemptively strike hundreds of Hezbollah rocket launchers to prevent the next wave of Hezbollah's revenge attacks.
Operation[]
On 23 September 2024, Israel massively escalated their skirmishes with Hezbollah with an all-out aerial offensive, attacking 1,300 Hezbollah military sites in South Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley. After sending out 80,000 text messages to Lebanese civilians warning them to evacuate their homes and areas near Hezbollah weapons depots and bases (text messages were even sent to Lebanese government ministers in Beirut), Israel struck targets as far north as Byblos. Israel killed senior Hezbollah commanders Ali Aburia and Mohammad Saleh as well as Hamas field commander Mahmoud al-Nader, and they also targeted Hezbollah Southern Front commander Ali Karki in a strike on Beirut's Beir al-Abed neighborhood. On the evening of 23 September, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi announced that Israel's offensive against Hezbollah would be codenamed "Arrows of the North." The airstrikes continued into 2024, and Israel assassinated Hezbollah missile corps chief Ibrahim Muhammad Qabisi in a strike on Beirut. On 25 September, Israel struck 280 Hezbollah sites across Lebanon. That same day, IDF chief Herzi Halevi stated that the strikes were laying the foundation for a ground offensive. On 27 September 2024, Israel launched a bunker-buster strike on Hezbollah's underground headquarters, killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah himself. On 1 October, Israel escalated its operation in Lebanon by launching a ground invasion.