Arnoun, Lebanon<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil we see signs of the Lebanese Army coming to disarm them, we\u2019re keeping the knife to Hezbollah\u2019s neck,\u201d an officer of the Israel<\/a> Defense Forces\u2019 36th Armored Division said. We were speaking last week at Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon, where the division is deployed. The 36th conquered this ground in May from the Iranian proxy Shiite Islamist organization in a large-scale operation. The flag of the Golani infantry Brigade, a ground combat component of the division, now flies over Beaufort\u2019s 12th-century tower.<\/p>\n The 36th Division\u2019s maneuver was one of the IDF\u2019s most complex ground operations in recent years. It involved capturing and destroying a complex system of tunnels, built on Hezbollah\u2019s behalf and at Iran<\/a>\u2019s behest by North Korean engineers over the past decade.<\/p>\n The IDF operation isn\u2019t finished, despite the pride expressed by the division\u2019s commanders at their troops\u2019 performance. The June cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel came with a few Hezbollah men still holed up in two tunnels outside the city of Nabatiyeh, a Hezbollah stronghold. The division\u2019s commanders at Beaufort Castle don\u2019t expect the cease-fire to last\u2014and have scant hope for an agreement with the Beirut government.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s deployment in southern Lebanon is part of a larger strategy Jerusalem has developed since the massacres of Oct. 7, 2023. It involves establishing Israeli areas of control on borders with territory held by Islamist organizations.<\/p>\n Published originally on July 12, 2026.<\/p>\n