BEIRUT: Israel said on Thursday it destroyed what it described as a major Hezbollah tunnel network beneath the Ali Al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon, an operation Israeli leaders said completed the establishment of a “security zone” in the area.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement that the operation targeted underground infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group.
A large explosion was heard in surrounding communities during the demolition. Videos circulating on social media, reportedly filmed from nearby Israeli-occupied areas, appeared to show a massive blast.
The Israeli military said it used more than 1,100 tons of explosives to destroy the tunnel complex, Israeli media reported.
The blast also registered as a magnitude 4.1 seismic event about 13 kilometers west-southwest of Nabatiyeh, according to the US Geological Survey.
Israeli officials described the site as a strategic Hezbollah network built over two decades with Iranian financing and planning. They said it included a command center and other facilities intended to support a possible Hezbollah incursion into Israel’s Galilee region.
The network also provided observation and fire-control capabilities overlooking the northern Israeli communities of Metulla and Kiryat Shmona, according to the statement by Netanyahu and Katz.
The destruction of the complex gave Israeli forces operational control of the Ali Al-Taher ridge “above and below ground,” Netanyahu and Katz said.
They added that Israeli troops would remain in the “security zone,” continue to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure and seek to prevent the group from rebuilding its capabilities.
The Israeli military said the tunnels beneath Ali Al-Taher served as the “nerve center” for Hezbollah’s Badr unit, which it said was responsible for an area of southern Lebanon north of the Litani River.
Hezbollah did not immediately comment on the Israeli claims.
Last week, the Israeli military said it had completed operations to seize and clear the tunnel network.