In the ongoing battle for the strategic southern Lebanon ridge, analyst Hananel Aviv reports that IDF ground forces have seized its lower sections but heavy resistance on the upper crest and inside the massive underground compound — including the reported 'Imad 4' missile city — has halted the advance, possibly under U.S. pressure. The fighting on Thursday cost the IDF the battalion commander of 52nd Battalion and three additional soldiers.
A new analyst account published Sunday afternoon by commentator Hananel Aviv reports that the 'Imad 4' underground fortress on the Ali al-Taher ridge has not yet been fully captured by IDF forces, despite earlier announcements of control. According to the analysis, IDF ground troops have secured the lower slopes of the 600-meter-high strategic line, but heavy resistance continues on the upper crest and inside the vast subterranean complex — described as a missile city with long-term living quarters, a field hospital, and the southern command headquarters of Hezbollah. The analyst suggests the advance has halted, possibly under U.S. pressure. The Thursday toll was severe: the commander of the 52nd Battalion and three soldiers were killed in an attempted breach.
This assessment follows a rapid sequence of conflicting reports over the past 24 hours. Earlier on Sunday at 06:08 Jerusalem, The Zioneer reported Aviv's identification of a suspected 'Imad 5' rocket complex on the same ridge that had not yet been captured. At 08:55 Jerusalem, a separate article described the IDF holding the underground nerve center with dozens of operatives trapped. That thread opened Saturday at 23:31 Jerusalem with four back-to-back versions: the first reported IDF control of the southern command center; the second cited a military briefing that about 30 operatives were besieged; a third confirmed the trapped operatives were inside the 'Imad 4' tunnel complex specifically; and a fourth stated the IDF holds the strategic complex. An IDF announcement at 23:51 Jerusalem Saturday detailed the 'Imad 4' base as an IRGC-funded 'missile city.' Hezbollah denied the encirclement at 22:16 Jerusalem Saturday.
As The Zioneer reported Friday at 23:03 Jerusalem, ground troops were engaged in close-quarters combat at the ridge. The ridge, rising to approximately 697 meters overlooking Nabatieh, was captured by Israeli forces on June 13 and described as a strategically dominant terrain feature. The underground complex was built over a decade with Iranian funding and Chinese tunnel-boring machines, and the current analysis echoes earlier descriptions of imported Chinese and Huawei/ZTE fiber-optic equipment that makes the facility resilient against Israeli electronic warfare.
It remains unclear whether the IDF has fully cleared any section of the complex, and the analyst account suggests a pause in operations may have been influenced by American requests. Hezbollah's denial of the encirclement and the analyst's claim that the upper crest remains contested indicate that the operational picture is still evolving.
5 developments
- StrongAnalyst warns renewed IDF push at Ali al-Taher ridge tonight amid strategic Hezbollah base
- StrongIranian-backed analyst details Hezbollah's 'Imad 4' underground base on Ali Taher ridge
- DevelopingIran pushing for ceasefire to stall IDF operations on Ali Taher ridge, per analyst
- DevelopingAnalyst warns capture of Hezbollah's Imad 4/5 on Ali Taher ridge is key to defeating group
Source and signal
- Internal intake