Key facts
- Israel demolished a Hezbollah tunnel network beneath the Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon.
- The operation involved over 1,000 tonnes of explosives and destroyed tunnels spanning more than 2km.
- The blast triggered seismic activity equivalent to a magnitude 4.1 earthquake, according to the US Geological Survey.
- The tunnel network included a command center for Hezbollah's Badr unit and contained dozens of weapons.
- The IDF stated the tunnels were strategic infrastructure constructed over two decades with Iranian funding and planning.
- Israeli forces captured the Ali Taher ridge last week.
Israel said Friday it was prepared to launch further strikes on Hezbollah after demolishing what it described as a vast tunnel network beneath the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel was ready to “continue striking Hezbollah and at additional locations”, claiming the operation had created a stronger security zone protecting communities in northern Israel and allowing Israeli forces to threaten Hezbollah deeper inside Lebanon.
The Israeli army said the tunnel network, which it claimed had been built over two decades with Iranian assistance, extended for more than two kilometers and contained dozens of Iranian-made rockets, missiles, drones and other weapons, as well as a command centre and living quarters. Israel detonated the network late Thursday in a massive explosion that produced a large fireball and was recorded by the US Geological Survey as a tremor equivalent to a 4.1-magnitude earthquake.
The blast came about a week after Israeli troops said they had seized the strategic ridge as part of efforts to consolidate a security zone in southern Lebanon. Army chief Eyal Zamir warned that any Hezbollah attack on northern Israeli communities or Israeli troops would receive an “immediate and forceful response”, while urging the Lebanese army to demonstrate its effectiveness in southern Lebanon. He warned that failure to do so could prevent progress on an agreement between Israel and Lebanon concerning the deployment of Lebanese forces. Ali al-Taher lies near the edge of Israel’s self-declared security zone and close to the strategic Beaufort Castle.
Images released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) showed a fireball lighting up the sky. A resident in Nabatieh, about 6km west of the ridge, told the BBC the house shook as if it was an earthquake, causing people to flee the area. Tremors were felt as far north as Saida, 40km away.
The IDF said the underground infrastructure included a command center used by Hezbollah's Badr unit and contained dozens of rockets, missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as anti-tank weapons, mines and explosives. The military described it as "strategic infrastructure that was constructed over two decades, funded and planned by the Iranian terror regime." The IDF stated that "all of the terrorists who were inside the infrastructure were eliminated or fled."
The destruction of the complex completed a mission to destroy eight tunnels and establish a "security zone" in the area, the IDF said. The action comes amid renewed fighting in southern Lebanon, where Israeli forces have expanded operations against Hezbollah positions. Lebanese media reported fresh Israeli strikes elsewhere in the south on Thursday, including Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Mansouri in the Tyre district.
According to the Lebanese health ministry, at least 4,362 people have been killed in Lebanon during the conflict since March.