The IDF says 30 Hezbollah operatives are trapped in tunnels in the village of Tebnine on the Ali Tahar ridge, where it identifies the main operational center of Hezbollah’s Badr force. According to the military, Hezbollah is trying to prevent the IDF from completing the encirclement of the tunnels and is fighting with high-trajectory fire, mortar rounds and drones.
A senior military official said Saturday evening, “We are currently in a ceasefire, inside a ceasefire.” In parallel, a senior political source said after the guns went quiet that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had reiterated Israel would remain in the security buffer zone as long as necessary to defend its northern border.
The same source said Netanyahu ordered the IDF to respond forcefully to every Hezbollah attack and to work to remove threats to Israeli forces. “In response to Hezbollah’s attacks over the past two days, the IDF struck 300 terror targets and killed about 100 terrorists,” the source said, adding, “If Hezbollah resumes attacking us, we will strike it again with force.”
Since last night, the IDF has carried out extensive strikes in the Tyre, Sidon and Nabatieh areas. Because the government does not want to escalate the fighting, the military has avoided striking in the Bekaa Valley and Beirut.
