Israel says it destroyed Hezbollah base in Lebanon’s Ali al-Taher ridge

Israeli attacks come a week after it said to have established operational control over the strategic ridge.The Israeli military says it has destroyed Hezbollah’s underground infrastructure at a key site in southern Lebanon, with Israeli government officials adding that the operation consolidated its so-called security zone in the area.In a joint statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel-katz" class="entity-link entity-person" data-entity-id="4249" data-entity-type="person">Israel Katz said on Thursday that Israeli forces would remain in the area to prevent the Iran-aligned Hezbollah-militant-group" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="202611" data-entity-type="organization">Hezbollah militant group from re-establishing its presence and rebuilding its capabilities.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank are choking the Palestinian economylist 2 of 4Israel will never stop me speaking up for Palestinelist 3 of 4Trump’s Iran war now has a midterm election problemlist 4 of 4Israel arrests 100 Palestinians in a week as West Bank pogroms continueend of listThe Ali al-Taher ridge, about 15 km (10 miles) from the Israeli border, has become one of the most contested areas of the war between Israel and Hezbollah. Katz claimed last Friday that Israeli forces had driven Hezbollah fighters out of what he said was a network of tunnels ⁠⁠under the disputed highland.Reuters reported that Hezbollah is believed to have built an underground command centre and weapons stores there in July, quoting unnamed Lebanese security sources.Lebanon’s National News Agency said that the Israeli military carried out a powerful blast at the ridge, with tremors and the sound of the explosion felt across Nabatieh and surrounding areas in southern Lebanon.Hezbollah has yet to respond to the recent Israeli attack.The Israeli military said its forces had established “operational control” over the ridge, both above and below ground, before dismantling the infrastructure. The network extended for more than 2 km (just over 1 mile) and contained dozens of rockets, missiles and drones, as well as anti-tank missiles, mines and explosive devices, it said.