On the ground in Lebanon, the IDF is pressing to seize the strategic Ali al-Taher Ridge and the subt

On the ground in Lebanon, the IDF is pressing to seize the strategic Ali al-Taher Ridge and the subterranean network beneath it. The IDF assesses the complex to be the “nerve center” of Hezbollah’s Badr Division - the formation regarded as the organization’s primary force on the southern front - with dozens of operatives holed up underground as fighting plays out above and below the surface. The facility is of such vital importance that the organization reportedly planned to blow the Qaraoun Dam and flood the Litani River basin to halt an IDF advance toward it - even at the cost of a national disaster in southern Lebanon. This is a facility unlike anything Israeli soldiers have encountered elsewhere. Built over more than a decade with Iranian funding and planning and carved deep into the rocky terrain across multiple levels, it served as the command post from which Hezbollah directed its fight against IDF forces and its attacks on Israeli territory. The terrain is what makes the difference: unlike in Gaza, where tunnels could be dug back out of the sand, here the rock works against reconstruction - destroy the headquarters, and rebuilding it will be nearly impossible.
That operation has come at a steep price. Overnight Thursday into Friday, four soldiers from the 401st Brigade’s 52nd Battalion were killed when a Hezbollah anti-tank missile struck their tank and an explosive drone penetrated the vehicle and detonated inside. Among the fallen were the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon, along with Staff Sgts. Yoav Klein, Liav Kababia, and Nave Habshoosh.
The fighting only intensified from there. Pressing the operation forward, commando forces moved on the ridge overnight Friday into Saturday under a barrage of rockets, mortars, and explosive drones. Sgt. 1st Class Nir Ben Ari was killed in the assault, and 13 other soldiers were wounded, two of them seriously. The volume of incoming has been heavy: Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Leiter reported Hezbollah fired 147 rockets, 20 drones, and nine anti-tank guided missiles at Israeli forces and into Israel over 24 hours. In response, the IDF unleashed waves of strikes across southern Lebanon through the night and into the morning, hitting dozens of Hezbollah sites and operatives - rocket launchers, weapons depots, and command centers - with Lebanese media reporting at least 27 killed. Netanyahu’s office put the two-day tally at more than 300 Hezbollah targets struck and more than 100 fighters killed.
Tehran seized on the strikes, declaring them a violation of its memorandum of understanding and announcing it was closing the Strait of Hormuz until Israel halts its operations in Lebanon. The move is better read as economic leverage rather than a literal blockade: Iran has worked throughout to keep oil prices high, and simply announcing a closure spooks shippers and lifts prices regardless of whether traffic actually stops. In fact, U.S. Central Command reported that 55 commercial ships had transited the strait; its spokesman flatly insisted “Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz” and that “traffic continues to flow.” Iran, MoU grievance notwithstanding, still dispatched its senior delegation to Switzerland all the same.
By Saturday afternoon, against the backdrop of those Iranian threats and subsequent American pressure, the order came down for the IDF to stand down. A senior official in the Prime Minister’s Office and the IDF Spokesperson confirmed the military was halting its fire and remained committed to the ceasefire, though it would continue dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure inside its security zone, the Ali al-Taher Ridge included. Netanyahu, for his part, was unambiguous that Israel will remain in the security zone “as long as necessary to defend [Israel’s] northern border,” and his office warned the IDF would continue to strike “forcefully” if Hezbollah keeps firing.
As it stands, Israel has the facility besieged with dozens of Hezbollah forces still trapped inside- entrances surrounded, the rest under aerial overwatch.