Tel Aviv, April 1 — The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Wednesday that it killed Mahdi Vafaei, identified by the IDF as the head of the Engineering Branch of the Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps, in the Mahallat area of Iran. The IDF said Vafaei “advanced underground projects across Lebanon and Syria,” and led efforts to establish and manage subterranean infrastructure used by Hezbollah and the Syrian regime, according to an IDF post on X.
The announcement followed another IDF statement earlier this week reporting the killing of Ibrahim al-Khaldi, described as a member of Hamas’s naval force, in the Nuseirat area. The IDF said al-Khaldi had provided expertise in planning and advancing maritime attacks against Israeli forces in and around Gaza.
Separately, the IDF outlined the scale of what it described as a coordinated campaign against Iran and its regional allies conducted alongside U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). In a video message on X, IDF spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said the operation, launched about a month earlier with U.S. forces, aims to weaken what the IDF called the “Iranian terror regime” and its network of proxies. Defrin said more than 4,000 targets had been struck, including over 10,000 so‑called terror components, as part of the campaign.
The IDF’s public statements also claimed the elimination of a figure it referred to as the “master terrorist Ali Khamenei,” and reported that an Israeli Adir fighter jet had shot down an Iranian aircraft over Iranian airspace. The IDF additionally said its operations against Hezbollah had intensified, citing airstrikes and a ground entry into Lebanon.
These details are drawn from IDF statements and a syndicated ANI report published as received.
