Abbas Karaki: Israel Eliminates Hezbollah Logistics Commander

Executive Summary:

• The IDF’s killing of Abbas Hassan Karaki, along with other Hezbollah operatives, was part of a broader campaign to prevent the group from rebuilding its military capabilities during the Israel–Hamas ceasefire.
• Karaki’s rise was rooted in deep family ties to Hezbollah, and his death further weakens the group’s Southern Front at a moment when Israel seeks to limit any resurgence along the border.

The Israeli Defense Forces conducted an airstrike on October 24 to eliminate Abbas Hassan Karaki (Arabic: عباس حسن كركي). According to the IDF, he headed the Hezbollah (Arabic: حزب الله) logistics unit for its Southern Front, referring to the border area between Lebanon and Israel (i24News, October 24). The airstrike occurred in the town of Toul (Arabic: تول), which saw an earlier Israeli precision airstrike in May on a building storing Hezbollah’s munitions and led to multiple explosions surrounding the premises (X/@sentdefender, May 22).  The strike to kill Karaki came in the context of the Israel–Hamas ceasefire that began in early October, which freed up the IDF to operate in the north.

Karaki and another were killed in the strike. Initially, local reports included video and photo footage indicating two people were killed in the Israeli airstrikes in Toul (Al Mashhad, October 25). On the same day, the IDF also killed Ali al-Moussawi (Arabic: علي الموسوي), a Hezbollah arms dealer, in the eastern Beqaa (Arabic: البقاع) region. This indicated the targeting of Karaki was part of a broader Israeli mission to prevent any resurrection of Hezbollah’s capabilities along its borders (The Times of Israel, October 26).

Israel asserts Karaki was spearheading Hezbollah’s efforts to rebuild its forces in the aftermath of severe damage inflicted on the organization in 2024. Since his assassination, the Lebanese government has accused Israel of undermining the ceasefire by continuing to target Hezbollah’s leadership, smuggling networks, and military infrastructure—even while the Lebanese government claims it is attempting the unprecedented step of disarming Hezbollah south of the Litani River (Arabic: نهر الليطاني) (ynet Global, December 4). On November 20, one month after Karaki’s targeting, four southern Lebanese villages were struck by the Israeli Air Force. These strikes led to the deaths of more than 10 people around Hezbollah weapons storage facilities (WION, November 20).

Karaki’s entrance into a leadership role in Hezbollah was almost certainly facilitated by his family’s longtime involvement in the militant group. His brother, Radwan (Arabic: رضوان كركي), was also a Hezbollah member killed in one of the previous wars between Israel and Hezbollah (Le’Orient-Le Jour, October 24). Another relative, Ali, was the former head of Hezbollah’s Southern Front and was killed alongside leader Hassan Nasrallah (Arabic: حسن نصر الله) in the major 2024 Israeli airstrike on Nasrallah’s base in Beirut  (Al-Manar, October 1). With the deaths of Karaki and his colleagues, Hezbollah’s threat to Israel on the Lebanese southern border will continue to be minimized, as Israel attempts to keep Hezbollah from regathering its operational strength.