Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Israel cleared military operations on Tuesday aimed at thwarting an Oct. 7 attack by Hezbollah on the country's northern border with Lebanon.

In a video message, Hagari said the Lebanese terrorist group had fired more than 9,500 rockets at Israeli homes since the war began in Gaza, forcing 60,000 residents to evacuate.

“Hezbollah has openly stated that it plans to carry out its own massacre on Israel's northern border on October 7, but on an even larger scale. They call this plan “Conquest of Galilee,” Hagari said. “For years, Hezbollah has planned to do in northern Israel what Hamas did in southern Israel on October 7: invade Israel, infiltrate civilian communities and massacre innocent civilians. “To ensure that Hezbollah can never carry out such an attack and to allow all 60,000 Israelis to return safely to their homes in northern Israel, the IDF is taking action.”

“Hezbollah planned to launch its attack on October 7 from villages across southern Lebanon, where it has been building its weapons, capabilities and forces for two decades. Hezbollah also dug tunnels under houses in these villages near the border with Israel,” Hagari continued. “Tonight we are declassifying a series of IDF operations conducted since the beginning of the war aimed at dismantling Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure and capabilities in the area of ​​the Israel-Lebanon border.”

“During these operations, IDF special forces entered Hezbollah compounds in dozens of locations along the border with Israel, collected intelligence, and dismantled Hezbollah's weapons and terrorist infrastructure. “Our soldiers penetrated Hezbollah's underground infrastructure, uncovered Hezbollah's hidden weapons caches, and confiscated and destroyed weapons, including advanced Iranian-made weapons,” he also said.

“In total, IDF soldiers uncovered and dismantled over 700 Hezbollah terrorist sites during these operations,” Hagari said.