The IDF said Thursday that it had completed the clearing of underground infrastructure on Lebanon’s Ali Taher ridge and was continuing efforts to neutralize the facilities. The announcement came hours after an Iranian warning over Israeli operations in the area and as Israeli strikes there continued into the evening.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Today we can already say it: We eliminated a great many terrorists there.”
Strikes on the Ali Taher ridge
Troops from the IDF’s 36th Division have in recent weeks operated to clear two underground routes in the area. The military said it had achieved operational control both above and below ground and cleared the area of Hezbollah terrorists.
According to the IDF, some of the terrorists were killed and others fled. “The activity to neutralize the underground infrastructure that has been cleared of terrorists is continuing, and once it is completed, the IDF will redeploy for renewed defensive operations,” the military said.
According to the IDF, troops discovered underground command centers, weapons storage rooms, generator rooms, living quarters, showers and a kitchen. The facilities, the military said, “enabled the terrorists to manage the fighting and remain there for extended periods.”
“This is strategic infrastructure that was built over two decades and funded and planned by the Iranian terror regime,” the IDF said.
Operational control of the ridge was achieved through a range of tactics, including ambushes, attacks on tunnel shafts using gunfire and grenades, drone strikes and other forms of fire, according to the military.
The IDF said the infrastructure had been built by terrorists from Hezbollah’s Badr unit with Iranian funding and planning, and had been used for managing fire systems, fighting Israeli troops and carrying out attacks against Israeli civilians over the past several decades.
The military said Hezbollah had made continuous use of the ridge during Operations Northern Arrows and Lion’s Roar, and that Israeli troops advanced into the area after Hezbollah had been weakened over the course of the war, particularly during those operations.
“IDF troops continue to operate to clear the security zone in southern Lebanon and will not allow the Hezbollah terrorist organization to advance terror attacks against them,” the military said.
The Hezbollah terrorist organization launched two explosive drones at IDF troops
(Video: IDF)
“Any attempt by the Hezbollah terrorist organization to act against IDF troops will be met with force. The IDF remains committed to the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon.”
Brig. Gen. Yiftach Norkin, commander of the 36th Division, said from the area that the site was one of two underground networks where Israeli forces had been operating in recent weeks. “We are effectively completing the clearing and takeover of them,” he said.
“These are assets from which Hezbollah commanded the latest campaign, and before that used to attack northern communities and IDF forces, including the division’s forces that captured Beaufort.”
“The infrastructure was built over decades by the Iranians,” Norkin said. “We are currently operating in this area. Led by the Commando Brigade and the Yahalom combat engineering unit, operational control has been achieved both above ground and underground.”
Earlier Thursday, Iran warned the United States that it would “respond forcefully” to an Israeli attack on the Ali Taher ridge, where, according to the Iranian claim, Iranian military personnel were trapped alongside Hezbollah terrorists.
The message was delivered to Washington last month, Reuters reported, underscoring what the report described as Iran’s direct and continuing involvement in the fighting in southern Lebanon and its willingness to respond to Israeli strikes there.
Tehran warned that any comprehensive Israeli attack on the ridge would trigger a large-scale Iranian response.
It remains unclear what Iran considers a “comprehensive Israeli attack,” while Israel has continued operating in the area. IDF activity on the ridge has been underway for several weeks. Israeli security officials, however, dispute the Iranian claim and say there are no Iranian personnel in the area.