The Israeli army announced on Thursday night that it had taken control of the Ali Taher heights in southern Lebanon and entered its tunnels, according to what was reported by the army spokeswoman, Ella Wawiya.
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Wawiya the commander of the 36th Division, Brigadier General Yiftah Norkin, inside one of the highland tunnels, talking about achieving what he described as “operational control” over the area above ground and inside the tracks located below it.
The spokeswoman attached the photo to a video recording in which she claimed that the Israeli army had completed what she described as the “cleansing” of Hezbollah’s underground infrastructure in the Ali Taher Heights, noting that work was still ongoing to neutralize it.
She said that the 36th Division forces had recently been working on two underground tracks in the highlands area, which falls within what the Israeli army calls the “security zone,” adding that the forces had achieved “operational control” over the area above and below ground.
Wawiya claimed that Israeli forces had “cleared” the area of Hezbollah elements, noting that some had been killed and others had fled, while operations aimed at neutralizing underground infrastructure were ongoing. She added that the army would redeploy “defensively, according to an assessment of the situation,” after the military operation concluded.
According to the spokeswoman, Hezbollah operatives who were inside these infrastructures were working to implement plans against Israel and the Israeli army forces, claiming that the operations carried out by the forces during the last few weeks “neutralized the ability to implement” these plans from those routes.
Wawiya said that the forces found operations rooms, weapons storage rooms, generators, sleeping quarters, shower facilities and a kitchen inside the underground infrastructure, claiming that these facilities enabled the party's members to manage the fighting and stay there for long periods.
The spokeswoman described these facilities as “strategic infrastructure built over two decades,” claiming that they were “funded and planned by the Iranian regime.”
In parallel with the announcement of control over the heights, the region witnessed an escalation on the ground, as the Israeli warplanes launched two raids on the Ali al-Taher height, while an Israeli drone dropped an explosive device on the same height.
This comes as the Israeli army intensified its operations in southern Lebanon, where it demolished homes and infrastructure between the towns of Mansouri and Majdalzoun, while a Merkava tank and a D9 bulldozer entered the town of Mansouri. Israeli forces also carried out bombings in the towns of Haddatha and Wadi Barashit, and an Israeli force entered the Halta farm in the Hasbaya district.
Israel's announcement of its control over the Ali al-Taher heights raises questions about the progress of the understandings regarding withdrawal from southern Lebanon. Lebanon and Israel signed a framework agreement in Washington on June 26, under US auspices, which included a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from the south in conjunction with the deployment of the Lebanese army.
The Israeli newspaper Maariv quoted an Israeli security source on Saturday as saying that Tel Aviv does not intend to withdraw from the Ali Taher Heights, despite American pressure to continue the withdrawal.
Wawiya concluded by saying that Israeli forces continue to operate in what they call the “security zone” in southern Lebanon, and that they “will not allow Hezbollah” to carry out plots against them, while claiming that the Israeli army “continues to abide by the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon.”
For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Ali Taher heights in southern Lebanon “no longer pose a threat to us,” adding that Israeli forces “eliminated large numbers of militants.”
Hezbollah had announced its refusal to hand over the heights to the Lebanese army, stressing that it would not give them up.
Since March 2, 2026, the Israeli aggression against Lebanon has continued, leaving more than 4,000 martyrs and more than 12,000 wounded, in addition to the displacement of more than one million people.
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