Israel Neutralizes Hezbollah’s Anti-Ship Missile Capability

On the evening of September 27, Israel launched a major attack on Hezbollah’s headquarters in the Haret Hreik district of southern Beirut. This strike interrupted an important meeting of Hezbollah’s senior leaders. The attack killed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s Secretary-General, along with Ali Karaki, who was the commander of Hezbollah operations on Lebanon’s southern border. Another key figure, Brigadier Abbas Nilforushan, who was the deputy commander of Iran’s Qods Force, was also killed in the attack. Nilforushan had been a senior Iranian commander in the region after the death of Brigadier Mohammad Reza Zahedi earlier this year. He was a permanent member of Hezbollah’s governing council.

Right after the attack, Israel gave warnings to civilians in nearby areas, like Hadath and Laylaki, telling them to leave. Israel then struck three more sites that it said were hiding mobile anti-shipping missiles. Footage shared on social media showed secondary explosions in Laylaki, suggesting that ammunition was stored in that area.

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Israel has been particularly concerned about Hezbollah’s anti-shipping missiles since 2006. Back then, Hezbollah hit an Israeli Navy ship, the INS Hanit, with a missile, killing four sailors. This showed that even advanced ships like the INS Hanit were not fully protected from missile attacks.

Hezbollah is known to have several types of missiles, including Chinese-built C-704 and C-802 models, which many Western navies are familiar with. However, Hezbollah is also believed to have Iranian-made Ghadir missiles. These are more advanced versions of the C-802 and have a longer range, reaching up to 300 kilometers. The Ghadir missile is designed to fly close to the sea, making it difficult to detect. It uses a special guidance system that is hard to track electronically in the early phase of flight, and switches to radar guidance when it gets closer to its target.

With a range of 300 kilometers, the Ghadir missile poses a significant threat not just to Israel’s Mediterranean coast, but also to British military bases in Cyprus and ships in the surrounding seas. From storage areas in Hadath and Laylaki, mobile launchers could be quickly moved to pre-prepared positions in the nearby Baabda highlands and be ready to fire within minutes.

The speed of Israel’s actions—first taking out Hezbollah’s top leaders and then destroying their missile capabilities—shows how important it was for Israel to neutralize this threat. The strike likely stopped Hezbollah from moving their mobile missile launchers to unknown locations or using them in revenge attacks. This pre-emptive move protects a large number of ships in the area and stops Hezbollah from creating a new danger zone like the one the Houthis have imposed over the Red Sea.