Iran is trying to rebuild its battered proxy group Hezbollah by flying millions of dollars to the terror organization through Beirut International Airport, a practice which the IDF has warned must stop immediately.

In an unusual statement, the IDF’s Arabic language spokesman Avichai Adaree wrote on X that the Israeli military will take steps to prevent the transfers from continuing.

“Iran’s Quds Force and the terrorist organization Hezbollah have been exploiting Beirut International Airport through civilian flights in an attempt to smuggle funds intended for Hezbollah’s armament, aiming to carry out attacks against the State of Israel,” Adaree wrote.

“The IDF remains in continuous communication with the monitors who are enforcing the ceasefire and regularly shares specific information to thwart these smuggling operations,” he continued.

“Despite ongoing efforts, our assessments indicate that some of these smuggling attempts have been successful.”

Adaree stressed that the “IDF will not allow Hezbollah to arm itself and will use all available means to enforce the ceasefire agreements and ensure the security of Israeli citizens.”

The statement comes just days ahead of the the deadline for Israel to withdraw troops from southern Lebanon.

A Trump administration official recently confirmed that Washington expects the IDF to leave the region by February 18th.

However, reports have indicated that Israel is lobbying to extend that deadline.

Displaced residents of northern Israel’s border region, who were evacuated from their homes shortly after the October 7th, 2023 terror onslaught, have still been unable to return to their communities.

The Israeli government set March 1st as the date for which displaced northerners are expected to return home, but that timeframe appears unlikely.

Kiryat Shmona Mayor Avichai Stern recently posted a video showing several concrete slabs haphazardly placed at the border, ostensibly as a barrier against a Hezbollah invasion.

Noting the fact that the barrier could be easily overcome, Stern said it “really looks like we’ve learned nothing from October 7th.”

Israel is planning to carry out a series of preemptive airstrikes against Iranian nuclear facilities in the coming months, American intelligence officials predict.

According to a report published by The Washington Post early Thursday morning, a dossier produced by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Defense Intelligence Agency last month claims that Israel will likely carry out strikes on several Iranian nuclear facilities sometime during the first half of 2025.

Specifically, the report claimed that the Israeli Air Force will probably strike at the nuclear facilities at Fordow and Natanz.

Thursday’s report, which cited American officials and former U.S. officials, said that the January dossier was based in part on an analysis of Israel’s strikes on Iran’s air defense network in October, following Iran’s second major ballistic missile strike on the Jewish state.

Israel and various American intel agencies, including the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the Director of National Intelligence’s office all declined to comment on the report.

White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said in response that the Trump administration “will not permit Iran to get a nuclear weapon.”

President Trump, Hughes continued, has said that “while he prefers negotiating a resolution to American’s long-standing issues with the Iranian regime peacefully, he will not wait indefinitely if Iran isn’t willing to deal, and soon.”

The January dossier laid out two possible scenarios, both of which could see the U.S. indirectly support Israeli airstrikes on Iran with either airborne refueling of Israeli warplanes, reconnaissance, or intelligence.

The first scenario revolves around the use of long-range standoff weapons, likely aerial-launched ballistic missiles fired from Israeli fighter jets operating outside of Iranian airspace.

The second and riskier option would involve Israeli warplanes penetrating deep into Iran’s airspace to drop BLU-109 bunker buster bombs.

Depending in part on the form Israel’s airstrikes take and the degree to which they succeed, preemptive strikes would push back Iran’s nuclear program by a matter of weeks or months, the U.S. intel dossier said.

However, one former American official told the Post that Israel’s assessment of the impact of potential airstrikes differs significantly with that of the U.S. intel community, with Israeli officials arguing that strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities could inflict catastrophic damage on Tehran’s nuclear program.

“That was a difference between our intelligence and their assessment,” the official said.