Deception Caught Hezbollah Off Guard, Senior Officer Says:

Intense fighting in the Nabatieh area, crossing the Litani and Saluki rivers, and severe damage to Iranian infrastructure, that is the operational picture as described by a senior officer. According to him, the fighting began already with the strike in Iran, when the division entered combat in Rab al-Thalathin and al-Taybe with the aim of preventing Radwan from entrenching itself along the contact line. The senior officer explained that crossing the Litani, something the IDF has not done since 1982, required complex engineering preparations and a major deception operation. "We carried out a deception that made Hezbollah think we were moving north from the eastern side, and in practice we breached a concealed route in Wadi Abrakh," he said. According to him, while Hezbollah relies on an extensive intelligence-gathering network of cameras, the forces managed to surprise it from the rear, build bridges and seize the ridge of southern Mount Nabatieh. Regarding the importance of the current position, the officer said the forces are now about 3 kilometers from Nabatieh, which he described as an "operational breaker" that gives the IDF high operational flexibility. "This is a significant stage in dramatically weakening Hezbollah, an opportunity that exists now and did not exist before," he stressed. It was also noted that the forces took control of "Crossing Flames" infrastructure, significant Iranian infrastructure on the Beaufort ridge, including advanced capabilities such as hospitals and underground shelters. As for the drone threat, the officer admitted that this is a major challenge, but said there has been an improvement trend: "We are working to prevent it from achieving gains, we brought in munitions that are supposed to make this easier and we have good interception rates." He added that there is a real attrition in the organization’s forces, which are now struggling to provide answers in operational functions such as anti-tank warfare and drone operations. "Hezbollah is retreating, but it is preparing along the Nabatieh line, where it very much wants to prevent our capture," he concluded. In footage released this evening by the IDF, forces from the Commando Brigade combat team and the Yahalom unit, under the command of Division 36 and guided by Military Intelligence and Northern Command, are seen working to clear an underground tunnel network beneath the Beaufort ridge: "The tunnels, which were planned and financed by Iran, are a strategic asset for Hezbollah, and during searches there, many weapons were found, including Kornet missiles, RPG launchers, anti-aircraft machine guns, mortars and fragmentation grenades. During an Egoz Unit operation to locate underground routes, a Yahalom drone identified terrorists inside one of the tunnels. After they opened fire at the drone, the terrorists tried to flee the route together with another cell, but were identified by the forces. As a result, the Air Force was directed to attack and eliminate the terrorists as they fled."