IDF Chief of Staff said Friday following the destruction of the Ali Taher ridge in southern Lebanon that Israeli forces maintain full control over the Yellow Line security zone and will defend northern communities at any cost. The military stands as the buffer on the front, he said, and the Yellow Line remains unchanged.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said Friday afternoon that Israeli forces maintain full control over the Yellow Line security zone and will defend northern communities at any cost. His remarks followed the destruction of underground terror infrastructure on the Ali Taher ridge in southern Lebanon, an operation that unfolded earlier today.
At 08:06 this morning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that the IDF had completed the destruction of a strategic Hezbollah facility on the ridge, describing it as a two-decade project funded by Iran. Shortly after, an Israeli source told Sky News Arabic that the IDF had detonated Hezbollah's main underground command center there, with approximately 50 operatives inside—most of whom were killed—and denied any Iranian presence at the site. The Chief of Staff then confirmed the destruction during a visit to the 36th Division, warning that any attack on northern communities or on forces protecting them would be met with an immediate response.
The Yellow Line—the security buffer inside Lebanese territory—has been consistently defined by Israeli officials as non-negotiable. As The Zioneer reported on June 21, a senior Israeli official rejected Lebanese reports of a military pullback, stating that the IDF is deployed along the line in force-protection positions. That same day, Defense Minister Katz affirmed that all IDF achievements in the Lebanon campaign are being preserved, with forces operating from the Yellow Line inward. During a tour of the same area in June, the Chief of Staff described the ceasefire as fragile and emphasized the need for high readiness.
The IDF has not formally confirmed casualty figures from the Ali Taher operation, and the anonymous source's account of 50 operatives killed remains unverified. The timeline for any future redeployment from the ridge has not been specified.
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