The Israeli Army has reported that it has assumed "operational control" of the strategic mountain ridge of Ali Taher, located in the Lebanese district of Nabatiyé, after starting "cleaning" tasks in an underground facility belonging to the Shiite militia party Hezbollah and after several weeks of military offensive in this area.
"The forces of the 36th Division have acted to clear the two underground routes in the area of the Ali Taher ridge, within the security zone. The forces achieved operational control of the ridge area both above ground and underground, and cleared the terrain of terrorists, having killed some of them while others fled the area," it has detailed.
However, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have emphasized in an official note that military operations to complete the "cleaning" tasks in the surroundings are ongoing. "Once the operations are concluded, the IDF will reorganize its defensive device based on the assessment of the situation," they have added.
In the same statement, the Army has specified that the deployed units have located in the complex "command centers, weapons storage, generator rooms, bedrooms, showers, and a kitchen that allowed the terrorists" to prepare attacks and remain in the enclave "for long periods" without being detected.
"This is a strategic infrastructure built over two decades, financed and designed by the Iranian terrorist regime," they have indicated, before stressing that they will continue to act in southern Lebanon and that they will not allow Hezbollah to "promote terrorist plans," while warning the group that any aggression against Israeli territory "will be responded to decisively."
Lebanon and Israel reached on June 26 a principle of understanding with the mediation of the United States that establishes the foundations for a permanent ceasefire in the conflict. The text contemplates the full restoration of Lebanese sovereignty in the south of the country, as well as the disarmament of Hezbollah, a point that the organization has categorically rejected amid the dynamics of cross-attacks between both parties.