Israel said it had destroyed a network of key tunnels built by Iran-backed Hezbollah beneath the strategically important Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon, where a 4.1 magnitude tremor was recorded.
The tunnels formed part of what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz described as “strategic terrorist infrastructure” developed over two decades with Iranian financing and direction.
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The operation, they said in a joint statement, “completes the achievement of operational control over the Ali al-Taher ridge, above and below ground”.
The United States Geological Survey recorded a 4.1 magnitude tremor in the area. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israel had carried out a “massive explosion” on the ridge in the Nabatieh region, sending tremors through the area and producing “a powerful rumble”.
“We were sitting there and everything shook,” said Joelle Fares, who recently moved to Majayoun.
The Israeli army said the Hezbollah network stretched for more than two kilometres and held “dozens of Iranian-made rockets, missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), as well as machine guns, dozens of anti-tank missiles, and hundreds of mines and explosive devices”.
According to the army, the subterranean complex also housed a command centre for Hezbollah’s “Badr” unit.
A military official said some militants operating around the ridge had withdrawn, while others were “eliminated by aerial strikes and artillery fire”.
Israel said last week that its forces had seized the Ali al-Taher ridge.
Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in March by backing its ally Iran.
Violence had eased following an understanding reached between Iran and the United States in June, and later an agreement between Lebanon and Israel.
Strikes, however, have intensified in recent days.
During negotiations, Washington, which sponsored the talks, proposed transferring control of the Ali al-Taher ridge to the Lebanese army, but Hezbollah rejected the plan, according to a source close to the parties.
Beirut authorities say Israeli strikes have killed more than 4,300 people since March, while Israeli forces remain in a so-called “security zone” in southern Lebanon.
