Ariel Kahana (Israel Hayom) reports that the IDF employed over 1,100 tons of explosives to demolish eight tunnel routes totaling more than 5,400 meters on the Ali Taher ridge, destroying Hezbollah's strategic underground command center for the Badr unit. The operation, which included deception and rapid target closure, eliminated operatives and seized large caches of weapons.
New details, published Thursday evening by veteran military correspondent Ariel Kahana (Israel Hayom), substantially revise upward the scale of the IDF's demolition of the Hezbollah underground complex on the Ali Taher ridge. According to the report, the IDF used 1,100 tons of explosives — 400 tons more than previously reported — to destroy eight underground routes spanning over 5,400 meters. The complex served as the primary command-and-control center for Hezbollah's Badr unit, overseeing operations in the Nabatieh sector. Kahana describes a sophisticated operation involving deception of Hezbollah forces: operatives who attempted to flee or bring supplies were eliminated through rapid target closure by aerial and artillery fire. In one face-to-face encounter, a Maglan unit fighter killed an operative attempting to escape through a tunnel route. The report adds that the IDF seized dozens of explosive drones, UAVs, machine guns, anti-tank missiles, hundreds of mines, RPGs, and other military equipment — most of which was destroyed on site.
Earlier tonight at 21:18 Jerusalem, the IDF published official footage of the demolition and confirmed that the operation was underway. The Zioneer had reported in July that 700 tons of explosives were used against a separate segment of the Beaufort-Nabatieh tunnel network. In August, The Zioneer reported that IDF commando and Maglan forces captured the tunnel network on the ridge. In June, the IDF revealed that a tank crew killed in the battle had been attempting to seize the underground headquarters.
As The Zioneer has detailed throughout the campaign, the Ali Taher ridge is a strategic high ground that overlooks the city of Nabatieh and the northern Galilee. Hezbollah's underground complex was built over two decades with direct Iranian planning and funding, designed to house hundreds of operatives and facilitate a ground invasion of Israeli communities. The scale of the destruction now exceeds earlier estimates in scope.
The collapse of this underground hub eliminates Hezbollah's ability to operate a regional command post overlooking Nabatieh and the northern Galilee, marking a significant milestone in the IDF's campaign to dismantle the terrorist group's subterranean infrastructure in southern Lebanon.
3 developments
- Developingi24NEWS: IDF destroys tunnel route on Ali Taher ridge north of Nabatieh
- StrongIsraeli official: Dozens of Hezbollah operatives' bodies found in tunnels; IDF releases demolition footage
- DevelopingIDF: Hezbollah drone aimed to help operatives escape underground complex on Ali al-Taher ridge
- StrongIranian-backed analyst details Hezbollah's 'Imad 4' underground base on Ali Taher ridge
Source and signal
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