Illustrative image. (Israeli Defense Forces)
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on the night of September 3 that it had finished clearing a “strategic” underground facility belonging to Hezbollah beneath Ali Taher ridge in southern Lebanon in recent weeks.
In a statement, the IDF said that over the preceding weeks, troops of the 36th Division had achieved “operational control of the ridge area above and below ground” and had cleared two major tunnel routes under Ali Taher of Hezbollah fighters, killing some while others fled.
The IDF described the facility as “strategic infrastructure that was built over two decades,” activity it said was financed and planned by Iran.
The military said Hezbollah fighters from the Badr unit had launched attacks from the underground site against troops and Israeli civilians in recent years.
“Following the activity in the infrastructure in recent weeks, the ability to carry out terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops from the infrastructure has been neutralized,” the military added.
Inside the tunnels, troops found “command centers, weapons rooms, generator rooms, living quarters, showers, and a kitchen,” which the IDF said had enabled Hezbollah fighters “to conduct fighting and remain there for extended periods.” The military added that once the underground site had been cleared of Hezbollah fighters, it worked to demolish it.
“Upon completion of the activity, the IDF will establish a renewed defensive posture in accordance with the situational assessment,” the military noted, indicating it planned to eventually withdraw from the area.
An Israeli military official said control was achieved through “offensive operational activities” in recent weeks, including ambushes against the Hezbollah fighters who had been hiding there, and attacks on the tunnel shafts with gunfire, grenades, drones, and airstrikes.
Dozens of Hezbollah fighters were believed to have been holed up under Ali Taher when a new ceasefire took effect in June.
Hezbollah launched several explosive drones at Israeli troops operating on the ridge in recent weeks, including on September 2.
Despite an earlier report by Reuters claiming that a dozen members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including at least two senior officers, had been with Hezbollah fighters at the underground site beneath the ridge, the IDF said it had cleared the tunnel routes of all fighters.
There was also no indication that any members of the IRGC were inside the tunnels when Israeli troops allegedlly took over them.
The Reuters report had also claimed that the IDF “put off storming” Ali Taher amid threats by Iran to respond strongly to any offensive.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the completion of the IDF’s operation in Ali Taher, calling it “huge news.”
According to him, the ridge “was built as a continuation of the Beaufort, as a strategic position from which they not only harassed Kiryat Shmona and Metula, but planned to conquer the Galilee.” He added that “we eliminated many, many terrorists there, today it can be told. The Ali Taher ridge no longer threatens us.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz on September 4 hailed the operation to take over the ridge as a key step toward cementing the IDF’s presence in southern Lebanon, vowing not to withdraw until Hezbollah had been completely disarmed.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu and I are leading a clear and uncompromising policy, reinforced every day by the IDF: Israel will not withdraw from the security zone in Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed throughout Lebanon and the threats to the residents of the Galilee are removed,” he said in a statement.
“The capture of Ali Taher is an important step toward achieving this goal,” Katz added, referring to the previous day’s announcement that the IDF had taken control of the key ridge in southern Lebanon.
Katz said the operation “marks the completion of the phase of establishing control over the security zone in southern Lebanon.”
He said the decision to take control of Ali Taher was made “following intelligence obtained about the presence of Hezbollah command-and-control tunnels there… serving as the last commanding outpost for defending the Nabatieh area.”
The operation was the IDF’s largest in southern Lebanon since the framework agreement brokered by the United States took effect the previous June.
That agreement called for the disarmament of Hezbollah and a gradual withdrawal of the IDF from southern Lebanon. It also included the deployment of the Lebanese army to areas where Israeli troops had pulled out, beginning in test areas known as “pilot zones.”
Just before the agreement was announced, the IDF had made an earlier attempt to capture Ali Taher but failed. Hezbollah mounted fierce resistance, killing several Israeli troops and destroying a number of tanks.
Amid the escalation, a U.S.-brokered deal to free five people captured in southern Lebanon by Israel was announced, with one released September 3 and the others returning home the following day. In exchange, Israel is to receive help locating the remains of leaders of Lebanon’s Jewish community, who were abducted and killed in the 1980s.
The deal to free the prisoners suggested that the IDF’s latest push toward Ali Taher had taken place in coordination with the Lebanese government.
While Hezbollah shows no immediate signs of seeking to escalate, additional Israeli pressure risks pushing the fragile ceasefire back toward war. Much would depend on Iran, which is unlikely to remain passive.
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