📍 Southern Lebanon: underground command network dismantled. The IDF said Northern Command forces and the 36th Division secured operational control of Ali al-Taher Ridge and completed dismantling Hezbollah’s underground infrastructure overnight, following the clearing of the Beaufort Ridge tunnel network.
Speaking beneath Ali al-Taher Ridge, IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said the network was built over two decades with Iranian funding and direction. It housed a central command complex and the Badr unit’s local headquarters, directing Hezbollah’s fighting during Operation Northern Arrows, Operation Roaring Lion and current operations.
⚔️ The operation combined diversion, encirclement and tunnel clearance. Defrin said 36th Division troops crossed the Litani River and captured Beaufort Ridge from an unexpected direction, surprising Hezbollah. Commando Brigade and Yahalom engineering troops then cleared the underground routes and prepared them for dismantlement.
Over recent months, troops encircled the area and increased pressure on terrorists underground. Defrin said air and ground strikes eliminated terrorists attempting to leave or resupply those inside; some fleeing terrorists were eliminated in close-quarters combat after encountering Israeli ambushes. All those inside were eliminated or fled, he said, accusing Hezbollah of abandoning personnel despite its pledge to defend the infrastructure at any cost.
The IDF released an operational illustration, Yahalom body-camera footage, drone footage from inside the tunnels and footage it described as showing Hezbollah terrorists being eliminated inside an underground shaft.
🛰️ Iranian weapons and Hezbollah’s use of civilian areas. Troops found numerous abandoned weapons, including Iranian-manufactured arms, Defrin said. Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir described advanced Iranian weapons intended to target IDF soldiers and northern Israeli communities, within command, control and combat infrastructure built over years at enormous cost.
Defrin described the findings as evidence of Hezbollah’s role as an Iranian proxy threatening Israel and regional stability. Zamir said Hezbollah initiated war in the north following Hamas’ October 7 attack and was destroying Lebanon as Iran’s emissary. He cited damage to entire villages in Qantara and Majdal Zoun, attributing it to an underground terrorist city beneath civilian homes, and warned that communities hosting terrorist infrastructure put themselves at risk. He said Hezbollah’s investment at Ali al-Taher had been wasted at Lebanese civilians’ expense.
🛡️ Operational control and conditions for the Lebanon agreement. Visiting the 36th Division with Northern Command chief Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo and division commander Brig. Gen. Yiftach Norkin, Zamir said recent operations fulfilled his directive to dismantle the infrastructure by Rosh Hashanah eve and redeploy locally. “The Yellow Line remains fully under our operational control, with no change.”
Zamir pledged to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding or reestablishing itself in the area. “Any attack on the communities in northern Israel or on the IDF troops defending them will be met with an immediate and forceful response.” He said progress on the Israel-Lebanon agreement required the Lebanese Army to demonstrate effectiveness on the ground.
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