IDF Accelerates Destruction of Hezbollah Strongholds in Southern Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are intensifying and speeding up the demolition of Hezbollah's terror infrastructure in southern Lebanon under the directive of Defense Minister Israel Katz. This effort includes opening new routes to enhance troop security and ensure rapid access and supply lines, according to reports from Walla News.

Lebanese media reported airstrikes overnight near Kafr Rouman and Ali Al-Taher in southern Lebanon. Northern Command officers explained that Hezbollah has spent over 20 years developing a strategic plan, funded by Iran, which involved establishing Shiite villages along key strategic routes and ridges. This network aims to block IDF ground maneuvers and facilitate quick access to the border as part of a plan to capture the Galilee region.

Several villages, including Kafr Houla, Al Khiyam, Bint Jbeil, Taybe, Zoutar Al-Sharqiya, and Bayyout Al-Sayyad, contain fortified military positions engineered to withstand airstrikes. IDF patrols have discovered extensive underground spaces beneath civilian homes used as shelters for thousands of militants over extended periods, alongside weapons caches, command centers, observation posts, and missile launch sites. This engineering activity is designed to dismantle Hezbollah's strategic infrastructure and prevent guerrilla operations.

Meanwhile, security sources note that the Lebanese Army has yet to achieve the expected engineering results agreed upon in U.S.-mediated understandings and has refrained from locating and destroying terror infrastructure due to fears of Hezbollah retaliation. Consequently, the IDF stresses the necessity of continuing its engineering operations to severely damage the terror organization.