Defense Minister Israel Katz said Monday evening that Israel had asked the Lebanese military to enter and destroy a Hezbollah underground facility near Nabatieh under the Ali Taher hill, but the Lebanese army refused. Katz also stated that Shiite villages "had to disappear to protect Israel" and claimed 73% of villages in eastern southern Lebanon have been destroyed.
Defense Minister Israel Katz revealed during a press conference Monday evening that Israel approached the Lebanese Armed Forces with a request to enter and destroy a Hezbollah underground facility beneath the Ali Taher hill near Nabatieh — a site where the IDF had failed to gain control after multiple attempts, according to Katz. The Lebanese military refused the request, Katz said.
The remarks expand on Katz's recent public statements on the IDF's operations in southern Lebanon. At a Monday press conference last week, Katz said the IDF would not withdraw 'a millimeter' from Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed, a position he said the U.S. supports. The Ali Taher ridge has been a recurrent flashpoint: the IDF eliminated six Hezbollah operatives there in late June, and in mid-June, Israeli media reported that Israel had asked the Lebanese army to deploy on the ridge ahead of a potential IDF withdrawal. Katz's latest statement — that the IDF itself could not capture the facility — marks a more candid acknowledgment of operational difficulty than previous briefings, which framed the campaign in southern Lebanon as systematic and ongoing.
Katz also offered a stark assessment of destruction in southern Lebanon, claiming 73% of villages in the eastern part of the region have been demolished, nearly a million Lebanese residents displaced from Beirut's Dahiyeh suburb, and more than half a million from southern Lebanon. He characterized some of the destruction as necessary, saying Shiite villages 'had to disappear to protect Israel.' The figures and the rationale are based solely on Katz's own statements, delivered in a press conference, and do not include independent verification.
- DevelopingUS source: Israel asked Lebanese army to deploy at Ali Taher ridge before withdrawal
- DevelopingKatz: IDF thwarting Hezbollah tunnels, destroying terror infrastructure near Lebanon border fence
- StrongIDF eliminates six Hezbollah terrorists at Ali al-Taher Ridge; Katz warns Iran
- StrongIsrael Katz: IDF cleared a Christian neighborhood in Tyre, struck Hezbollah fighters sheltering there
Source and signal
A single-sourced dispatch is never rated Confirmed or Strong. Its Signal strengthens only when a second, independent source corroborates it.
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