The IDF is operating in the Tibnit area of southern Lebanon around a significant underground infrastructure over a kilometer long, with dozens of Hezbollah operatives surrounded, the military says. Fighting is taking place both above and below ground, and the IDF describes the site as one of Hezbollah's major infrastructure hubs in the south, aimed at removing a long-term threat to northern Israeli communities.
The IDF has updated the location of the large underground tunnel network it is operating against in southern Lebanon, identifying it as the Tibnit area, according to a security correspondent for N12. The military says the network extends over a kilometer, with dozens of Hezbollah operatives surrounded both above and below ground, and describes the site as one of the organization's major infrastructure hubs in the south. The new location follows hours after The Zioneer first reported, at 19:28 Jerusalem, that the IDF had encircled a subterranean command post of Hezbollah's Badr Unit on the Ali Taher ridge, where some 30 operatives were trapped and calling for help. By 19:28 Jerusalem, the military had received a political-level directive to hold fire in the Ali Taher area, though operations to destroy infrastructure and eliminate operatives threatening Israeli forces continue.
The thread begins with The Zioneer's initial report at 19:28 Jerusalem that the IDF held the fortified Ali Taher compound, an underground nerve center built with Iranian assistance, after receiving a ceasefire order. Subsequent updates at the same timestamp identified the trapped operatives as belonging to the Badr Unit and specified that dozens were calling for help from within the complex. By 19:28 Jerusalem, the story had evolved to include the Badr Unit's identity and the political directive to hold fire — a development reported by journalist Almog Boker and security sources. The earlier reports, all centered on the Ali Taher ridge, relied on a senior IDF officer and an unnamed security correspondent; the current update shifts the location to Tibnit and cites N12's Nir Dvori, offering a geographically distinct but militarily related target.
The wider operation is set against sustained IDF ground and air activity in southern Lebanon, as The Zioneer reported on Sunday — the IDF chief of staff stated that ground maneuvers were deepening Hezbollah's erosion, while on Wednesday and Tuesday the military struck launchers and drone infrastructure near Tyre and Hezbollah targets in the Nabatieh area. Hezbollah itself claimed heavy clashes with Israeli forces at Kfar Tebnit overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, a claim that remains unverified by independent or Israeli sources.
What remains open: Hezbollah has not yet commented on the reported encirclement in the Tibnit area. The IDF has not released casualty figures for either side, and the precise number of operatives surrounded — previously stated as roughly 30 on the Ali Taher ridge — has not been updated for the Tibnit location.
8 developments
- ConfirmedSenior Israeli official warns: If Hezbollah attacks again, Israel will strike with full force
- ConfirmedIDF reportedly ordered to halt strikes in Iran, continue operations in southern Lebanon
- DevelopingHezbollah says it rejects ceasefire, refuses to end hostilities with Israel
- StrongIDF spokesman: Hezbollah violated the ceasefire
Source and signal
- Internal intake