“This is a strategic terrorist infrastructure that has been developed for more than two decades, financed and planned by Iran,” the joint statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said.
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This destruction “completes the achievement of operational control over the Ali al Taher ridge – above ground and underground,” the statement added.
The US Geological Survey meanwhile reported underground shocks of magnitude 4.1 in the area, while Lebanon’s state National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israel caused a “powerful explosion” on the Ali al Taher ridge in the Nabatieh region, which “caused vibrations and a loud rumble.”
AFP journalists in southern Lebanon also said they heard “huge explosions” on Thursday evening.
“We were sitting and everything was shaking,” Joelle Fares, who recently moved to Marjayoun, told AFP.
The Israeli military stated that Hezbollah’s infrastructure extended over more than two kilometers, containing “dozens of Iranian-made rockets, shells, and drones, as well as machine guns, dozens of anti-tank missiles, and hundreds of mines and explosive devices.”
The military added that the underground complex also housed the headquarters of Hezbollah’s “Badr” unit.
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An army official told AFP that some fighters operating in the ridge area left it, while others were “eliminated by air strikes and artillery fire.”
Last week, Israel announced it had taken control of the Ali al Taher ridge.
In March, Hezbollah involved Lebanon in the Middle East war, supporting its backer Iran.
After the agreement reached between Iran and the US in June and the subsequent Lebanon-Israel agreement, violence briefly subsided.
However, in recent days, the intensity of strikes has increased again.
The US, mediating the talks, proposed that the Lebanese army take control of the Ali al Taher ridge, but Hezbollah did not agree, a source close to the negotiating parties told AFP.
Beirut officials say that since March, more than 4,300 people have died in Israeli strikes, and Israeli forces continue to hold the so-called “security zone” in the south.
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