This timeline of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict covers the period from 2 January 2024, with the Assassination of Saleh al-Arouri, until 31 March 2024, one day prior to the Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
Attacks from both sides continued throughout this period, with the US trying to dissuade Israel from further escalating the conflict or conducting a "pre-emptive strike" on Hezbollah, which would lead to "all hell breaking lose", according to an unnamed official speaking on condition of anonymity to the Washington Post.
January 2 January
Israel conducted airstrikes in Syria targeting a military position near Kanaker housing Hezbollah members and other sites near Damascus. An Israeli airstrike targeting a meeting between Hamas and Jamaa Islamiya officials in Dahieh, Beirut killed seven people, four of which were Palestinian and three were Lebanese. Among the deaths were Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri and other high-ranking Hamas officials. The attack was the first targeted assassination conducted by Israel outside of the Palestinian Territories since 7 October. Demonstrations took place in Tripoli, Beirut and Tyre following the assassination. Two Hezbollah members were killed by an Israeli airstrike. Hezbollah attacked an IDF position in the vicinity of Marj with missiles.
3 January
Hezbollah announced that it carried out nine attacks targeting Israeli positions. The IDF fired heavy machine guns towards the outskirts of the towns of al-Bustan and Ayta ash Shab. In his second speech since the beginning of the war, Hassan Nasrallah said that Hezbollah is not afraid of an all-out war with Israel. An Israeli airstrike in Naqoura killed local Hezbollah commander Hussein Yazbek and three of his bodyguards, and injured nine other Hezbollah operatives.
4 January
NNA reported that the IDF bombed the outskirts of Naqoura. An Israeli drone launched a guided missile towards Yaroun. Hezbollah fired an anti-tank missile toward Metula.
5 January
Lebanon filed a formal complaint to the United Nations after the attack that killed Saleh Al Arouri in Beirut. IDF warplanes bombed the outskirts of Aita Al-Shaab and Chihine. The Fajr Forces said that they bombed Kiryat Shmona.
6 January
In the morning the IDF closed all streets and intersections along the border with Lebanon. The IDF conducted three strikes inside the Sidon District. IDF airstrikes hit Aita Al-Shaab, Yaroun, Khiam, Kafr Kila, Al-Housh, Burj Al-Muluk, Markaba, Rab El-Thalathine, and Al-Adaysah. A Syrian woman was reportedly injured in Burj al Muluk, while two civilians suffered burns from phosphorus bombs in Khiam. Hezbollah struck a site in Metula and IDF sites in Zarit, Margalit and Bayad Blida. Hezbollah fired 62 missiles at Meron airbase in northern Israel in retaliation for the killing of Saleh al-Arouri. Hezbollah announced four members killed on that day.
7 January
A building in Metula was damaged by rocket fire from Lebanon. The IDF deployed the Sky Dew blimp to monitor the Israel–Lebanon border. Screens at Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport were hacked allegedly by the Christian group Jnud al-Rab to display an anti-Hezbollah message. Jnud al Rab denied any involvement.
8 January
An Israeli airstrike killed Wissam al-Tawil, a senior commander of Hezbollah's Redwan Force, and another Hezbollah fighter in Majdel Selm. An anti-tank missile hit a building in Kiryat Shmona. IDF fighter jets struck Hezbollah targets in Marwahin and Ayta ash-Shab. An anti-tank missile fired by Hezbollah struck an apartment building in Shtula, lightly injuring an Israeli. The IDF killed Hassan Hakashah in Beit Jinn, who was a central figure of Hamas responsible for rocket attacks targeting Israel from Syrian territory.
9 January
Hezbollah claimed to have launched drones at the headquarters of the IDF's Northern Command in Safed as well as three other IDF posts along the Lebanese border. The IDF acknowledged that one of its bases was attacked, but said it did not sustain damage while not disclosing which base. Three Hezbollah members were killed in an Israeli drone strike on their car in Ghandouriyeh. Ali Hussein Barji, the commander of Hezbollah's aerial forces in southern Lebanon who was responsible for dozens of drone attacks, was killed by an airstrike in Khirbet Selm.
10 January
A civilian was killed when an Israeli artillery shell fell near his home in Kafr Kila. An IDF drone strike on a house in Kfarchouba killed a Hezbollah official and injured the homeowner. The Lebanese Red Cross said they retrieved a decomposing body near Metula. Israeli news outlets reported that a missile fired by Hezbollah damaged homes in an undisclosed settlement.
11 January
The Islamic Health Committee said two of its medics were killed by an Israeli airstrike targeting one of its affiliated clinics. At least ten rockets were fired from Lebanon into communities in northern Israel, and three of them were intercepted by air defenses. Israeli shelling was reported near Aitaroun.
12 January
Hezbollah fired two anti-tank missiles into Malkia. The IDF said it conducted airstrikes in Labbouneh, Ramyah, and Ayta ash-Shab. It also struck two Hezbollah cells in Marwahin and an anti-tank missile squad in Yaroun as they prepared to carry out attacks.
13 January
A home in Shtula was damaged by an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon. The IDF conducted airstrikes in Meiss Ej Jabal and Yarine.
14 January
The IDF said that they killed four militants who infiltrated the Israeli border through Shebaa while an IDF unit was patrolling nearby. Five IDF soldiers were wounded. A group calling itself the "Islamic Azz Brigades" (Islamic Glory Brigade) later claimed responsibility for the attack and announced that three of its members were killed while two managed to escape. An Israeli man and his 70-year-old mother were killed in an anti-tank missile attack by Hezbollah on Yuval. The IDF said that it carried out "intensive strikes" against targets in south Lebanon reaching up to 21 miles away from the border.
15 January
The IDF said that two rockets fell in open areas after a Hezbollah strike that targeted Mattat. Hezbollah said that they attacked a gathering of Israeli soldiers in Metula. IAF fighter jets conducted strikes on Odaisseh, Aalma ech Chaab, Jibbain, and Maroun al-Ras, while IDF shelling hit the plains of Marjayoun. The IDF launched interceptor missiles at several "suspicious aerial targets" over Yaroun and Rmaich.
16 January
The IDF conducted at least 16 aerial and artillery strikes in the Suluki Valley. It also carried out strikes near Ayta-al-Shaab, with one of them hitting a Hezbollah anti-tank missile launcher. Hezbollah said it launched rockets at Israeli troops.
17 January
The IDF fired five smoke shells towards Syrians working in a grape orchard. The National Evangelical Church of Alma ech Shaaab was targeted by the IDF and damaged the home of its pastor. Later, An IDF drone hit a house near a mosque in Aita Al Shaab. Israeli artillery struck the outskirts of Deir Mimas and Marjayoun. Hezbollah said that it targeted a gathering of soldiers in Raheb. Hezbollah announced that they struck the vicinity of Ruwaisat Al-Alam and Kfarchouba with Burkan missiles. The IDF responded by striking targets in the outskirts of Rachaya Al Foukhar. A Hezbollah member and a member of the Al-Qassam Brigades were killed and six civilians were wounded during clashes on the Israel–Lebanon border.
18 January
The IDF targeted Hezbollah infrastructure in Odaisseh, Kafr Kila, and Marjayoun. An Israeli warplane aimed white phosphorus shells at Meiss Ej Jabal. An Israeli drone struck a house in Kawkaba, causing material damage. Israeli artillery shelled the outskirts of Dhayra and Yarine. Two rockets from Lebanon fell in open areas towards Arab al-Aramshe.
19 January
NNA said IDF attacks targeted homes and destroyed three empty ones in Kafr Kila. Hezbollah claimed three border attacks including two targeting "deployments of soldiers of the Israeli enemy".
20 January
An IDF strike on a car passing through Bazouriyeh, Lebanon, killed four people. Hezbollah announced that one of its local commanders, Ali Hudruj, was killed in the strike. The other occupant of the car was identified as businessman Mohammad Baqir Diab. Five senior IRGC officers and a number of Syrian militants were killed after an apparent IDF airstrike hit a building in Damascus.
21 January
An Israeli airstrike on a car near a Lebanese Army checkpoint in Kafra killed a Hezbollah official and injured seven others. The attack targeted senior Hezbollah commander Fadi Suleiman who survived the attack. Hezbollah announced that it struck a house in Avivim in retaliation for the alleged killing of a civilian woman in the Kafra attack. The statement was later modified after hospital officials said that the woman was alive. The IAF attacked the Civil Defense Center of the Islamic Health Authority in Kafr Kila damaging ambulances.
22 January
A man died from injuries sustained in airstrikes on Kafr Kila. Hamas announced the death of two of its members who were critically injured after an attack on 17 January. Hezbollah announced the death of two of its members.
23 January
Hezbollah said that it targeted the IDF's Northern Command center in Mount Meron. The IDF said its fighter jets destroyed a "military asset" in Lebanon used by Hezbollah and operated by Iranian forces, carried out airstrikes in an open forest area in the Iqlim Al-Tuffah region, and hit three houses in an air raid on Blida. An Israeli drone fired two missiles at a shipping container in Al-Wazzani. Hezbollah claimed it had scored direct hits on a group of Israeli soldiers on Cobra Hill with missiles. Hezbollah launched at least 15 rockets targeting an IDF base on Mount Meron "in retaliation" for Israeli attacks in Syria.
24 January
An anti-tank missile from Lebanon was fired towards the Shomera area. Al-Manar reported Israeli shelling south of Naqoura. Israeli media reported that two Hezbollah mortar shells fired into the Metula area the previous week were suspected to have contained white phosphorus.
25 January
The IDF struck a home in Tayr Harfa, injuring three civilians. The IDF struck an alleged Hezbollah-run airstrip in Birket Jabbour in Jezzine, outside UNIFIL's area of operations. Israeli media claimed that three militants from Lebanon infiltrated the border, in a later statement IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee denied such an incident had occurred. Hezbollah carried out aerial attacks against an air defense system site in northern Israel.
26 January
Hezbollah announced that they had conducted nine attacks on the IDF. IDF attacks on Hezbollah sites in Bayt Lif and Deir Aames killed four Hezbollah fighters. Hezbollah targeted Israeli barracks in Gonen using an Iranian-made Falaq-1 rocket system, saying that this was the first attack using the weapon during the war.
27 January Hezbollah conducted 14 attacks primarily targeting Israeli military forces and infrastructure.
28 January
Hezbollah announced the death of three of its members. The IAF carried out 14 airstrikes on southern Lebanon destroying 11 houses and damaging 27. Five civilians sustained injuries. Hezbollah stated that they attacked gatherings in Tal Shaar, the Ramim barracks, Ya'ra barracks, Motella and Hanita.
29 January
At least two people were killed and several others were injured during a series of explosions at pro-Iranian militia sites near the Sayyidah Zainab Mosque in Syria. Syrian state media reported that Iranian advisors were killed in the attack. An anti-tank missile was fired at a post in the Metula area.