IDF Destroys Hezbollah Tunnels in Southern Lebanon with Massive Explosives

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Thursday detonated extensive Hezbollah tunnel networks located in the Ali Taher mountain range in southern Lebanon. According to statements from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, the operation destroyed Hezbollah's underground infrastructure in the area, completing the organization of a security zone in southern Lebanon. The IDF utilized over 1,100 tons of explosives to demolish the tunnels, which comprised eight underground routes totaling more than 5,400 meters in length. The explosions were powerful enough to register as a 4.1 magnitude earthquake, according to the Lebanese seismological center.

Before their destruction, the tunnels were found to contain significant weaponry, including dozens of explosive drones, unmanned aerial vehicles, machine guns, anti-tank missiles, hundreds of mines, RPGs, and explosive devices. Netanyahu and Katz described the infrastructure as a "strategic terror infrastructure built over two decades with Iranian funding and planning," intended for the "conquest of the Galilee" and to control observation and fire over Metula and Kiryat Shmona. They stated that its destruction achieves "operational control of the Ali Taher range, above and below ground."

The IDF announced that its forces are preparing for defense in the area and to prevent Hezbollah's return, vowing to "continue to destroy terror infrastructure and thwart any attempt by the organization to re-establish itself and restore its capabilities." The IDF stated that the tunnel destruction followed prolonged preparatory operations by forces from Division 36 to "permanently neutralize Hezbollah's ability to plan and execute terror routes against Israeli civilians and IDF forces from within the infrastructure."

IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Drorin described the operation as the "end of a maneuver that included ruse and deception," adding that all terrorists in the tunnels were either eliminated or fled. He claimed Hezbollah failed to defend the infrastructure and "abandoned its men to die inside." In recent months, forces intensified military pressure on the terrorists within the tunnels, first securing control of the surface area and then the underground space. Some terrorists abandoned the area, while others were killed in air strikes, artillery fire, or close-quarters combat, including one killed by the Egoz unit while attempting to escape.

This operation occurred amid reports that Iran had conveyed a message to the United States through Oman in August, warning of a broad Iranian military response if Israel occupied the range, which Iran claimed would violate the June Islamabad Agreement's ceasefire understandings.