Radwan Force

Radwan Force is Hezbollah's elite special operations unit, formed in the late 1990s and named after Imad Mughniyeh's nom de guerre. Based in southern Lebanon, it specialises in cross-border raids, anti-armour ambushes, and tunnel warfare, trained to penetrate Israeli defences along the northern border. Naim Qassem confirmed on Quds Day that 30,000 Hezbollah fighters are committed, with Radwan units deployed in the south.

The unit has sustained severe command losses during the current conflict. The IDF killed Radwan Force commander Abu Khalil Barji in an airstrike on Majdal Selm in southern Lebanon, decapitating operational leadership at a critical moment. A Radwan command post was subsequently destroyed in the IDF's strike on the Al-Amana fuel network. Earlier, Radwan fighters engaged Israeli commandos raiding the Bekaa Valley in a search for Ron Arad's remains.

Despite repeated commander-level strikes, Radwan Force continues to function: the open question is whether Israel's decapitation strategy can degrade an organisation that has survived similar losses since 2006, or whether the unit's cell structure allows it to absorb attrition and reconstitute faster than the IDF can strike.