The IDF carried out strikes in several areas of southern Lebanon on Wednesday, including the Nabatieh region, as the military continued efforts to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure remaining around Ali Taher Ridge.
Lebanese reports said strikes were also carried out in the villages of Marjayoun and Mansouri.
Lebanese reports of strikes in Nabatieh
The IDF is determined to destroy the remaining terror infrastructure around the ridge after most of the terrorists who had been trapped there for weeks were killed.
Once the infrastructure is destroyed, Israeli forces are expected to redeploy along defensive positions on the yellow line. The move is considered sensitive, with the IDF seeking to eliminate Hezbollah’s strategic assets while ensuring that the operation does not undermine the existing framework with Lebanon.
Six days ago, the IDF announced that it had completed the clearing of underground infrastructure on Ali Taher Ridge and said it was continuing to “neutralize” the sites.
Forces from the IDF’s 36th Division had been operating in recent weeks to clear two underground routes in the area. The military said it had achieved operational control above and below ground and cleared the area of terrorists, with some killed and others fleeing.
“The activity to neutralize the underground infrastructure that was cleared of terrorists is continuing, and once it is completed, the IDF will redeploy in a renewed defensive posture,” the military said.
According to the IDF, command centers, weapons rooms, generator rooms, living quarters, showers and a kitchen were found underground, facilities that “allowed the terrorists to manage the fighting and remain there for long periods.”
The military described the network as “strategic infrastructure built over two decades, financed and planned by the Iranian terror regime.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the time: “Today it can already be said: We eliminated a great many terrorists there.”
The IDF said operational control of the ridge was achieved through a series of actions that included ambushes, fire directed at tunnel shafts, grenades, drones and other strikes.
According to the military, terrorists from Hezbollah’s Badr Unit built the infrastructure with Iranian funding and joint planning. The two underground routes were used by the unit to manage fire systems, fight IDF forces and carry out terror plans against Israeli civilians over the past several decades.
The IDF operation has also drawn a warning from Iran. Reuters reported that Tehran warned the United States last month that it would “respond forcefully” to an Israeli attack on Ali Taher Ridge, where, according to Iran, Iranian military personnel were trapped alongside Hezbollah terrorists.
The message highlighted Iran’s direct and continuing involvement in the fighting in southern Lebanon and its stated willingness to respond to Israeli strikes in the area.