Hassan Badir, who was eliminated yesterday in an attack on a building in the southern neighborhood of Beirut, was identified as a senior operative in “Unit 3900” – a joint external operations unit (ESO) of Hezbollah and the Quds Force in Lebanon.
Badir, according to reports, served until recently as the deputy head of Hezbollah’s “Palestinian Portfolio.” The Palestinian Portfolio is known as an entity responsible for coordinating with Palestinian militias regarding external operations against Israel. Hezbollah units designated to operate against Israel include Units 133/1800 and the holder of the “Golan File” – Musa Dakdouk.
The joint external operations of Hezbollah and the Quds Force are managed by the “Palestine Branch” of the Quds Force, also known as “Unit 2500” in Lebanon – a unit subordinate to the Quds Force’s “Corps 2000” in Lebanon.
A joint attack arm of the Quds Force and Hezbollah has, over the years, been assigned highly distinctive spatial codenames such as 2800 (for operations against Iraq) or 3800 (for operations against Yemen).
The activities of “Unit 3900,” now exposed in relation to Israel, were intended to direct terrorist operations within Israeli territory and beyond, utilizing Palestinian operatives. Until now, such activities were associated with the “Abu Jihad External Operations Unit,” led by senior Hezbollah official Ali Wahib Yassin. It remains unclear whether this is the same unit now receiving a numerical designation or a new unit altogether. What is clear is that Badir had been a central figure for years in dealings with senior Quds Force officials, as evidenced by photographs from a joint flight alongside the Quds Force commander and his right-hand man in Iraq, taken before their elimination in January 2020.
This suggests that Badir may have been Hezbollah’s operations officer within the framework of “Unit 2800” activities in Iraq.
