Hezbollah issued a special statement Thursday evening denying the IDF's control of the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge and the village of Tebnit, in direct response to an IDF map published earlier. The group claims it repelled Israeli attempts to advance over the past four days using missiles, UAVs, and explosive drones, inflicting casualties and forcing a retreat. It acknowledges Israeli forces remain on the southern outskirts of Tebnit, near Arnoun. The claims are unverified by independent sources.
Hezbollah's rare special statement comes four days after Israeli media and open-source reports indicated IDF forces had captured the Ali al-Taher ridge and entered the village of Tebnit in southern Lebanon's Nabatieh district. The IDF Spokesperson's Unit published a map earlier this week that included the ridge as under Israeli control — the map that Hezbollah's statement explicitly references. As The Zioneer reported at 17:51 Thursday, Hezbollah had separately described the ridge's loss as a "serious matter."
The group's account details a four-day battle: from Monday through Thursday morning, it claims to have used anti-tank guided missiles, UAVs, and explosive drones against Israeli troop concentrations, tanks, and APCs attempting to advance from Arnoun toward Tebnit and the ridge. It specifically cites a hit on a Merkava tank near a crossing area at 01:50 Thursday and an ambush at 08:00 Wednesday on an infantry force trying to establish a position northeast of Tebnit. Hezbollah says Israeli forces were forced to retreat under smoke and artillery cover while helicopters evacuated casualties.
The statement acknowledges that Israeli ground forces remain deployed on the southern outskirts of Tebnit, approaching from Arnoun — an implicit confirmation of an IDF presence at the village edge. The IDF has not commented on Hezbollah's latest account. The claims are single-source and unverified by Israeli or independent battlefield reporting.
2 developments
- DevelopingHezbollah views Ali al-Taher ridge as a serious matter, analyst says
- StrongAl Jazeera confirms IDF maneuvering forces advancing toward Ali al-Taher ridge
- DevelopingIDF pushes into three new axes in southern Lebanon, sources report
- StrongIDF expands controlled area in southern Lebanon since April ceasefire, captures Ali al-Taher ridge — new map comparison shows
Source and signal
A single-sourced dispatch is never rated Confirmed or Strong. Its Signal strengthens only when a second, independent source corroborates it.
- Internal intake