• The Israeli military claims to have destroyed underground Hezbollah infrastructure at the Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon.
• The Lebanese Health Ministry says Israeli attacks have killed 4,383 people in Lebanon since March 2.

Israeli air attacks hit southern Lebanese towns as heavy explosions rock Khiam and Nabatieh

Israeli warplanes have launched air attacks on the town of al-Mansouri and its surrounding areas towards the town of Majdal Zoun, south of the city of Tyre, Lebanon’s National News Agency reports.

The NNA also reported an Israeli air strike in the vicinity of the town of Qantara in the country’s southeast. Israel also struck the town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, the NNA said.

Powerful explosions were also reported east of Khiam and at the Ali al-Taher ridge near Nabatieh al-Fawqa, with the latter being one of the biggest explosions recorded since the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon in March, according to the NNA.

Israel claimed it destroyed tunnels used by Hezbollah in the Ali al-Taher ridge.

Israeli forces detonate explosives on Baraachit hill in south Lebanon

Israeli forces have carried out an explosion on the hill of Baraachit town in the Tyre district, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.

Additionally, Israeli artillery shelled Wadi al-Hujeir in the same area, NNA added.

Bomb explodes in South Lebanon’s Ein el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp

A bomb has exploded at dawn inside the Ein el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, the country’s National News Agency reports.

No casualties were reported from the blast, the agency said.

Fears grow in southern Lebanon as explosions rock Ali al-Taher ridge

Explosions have occurred in the strategically important Ali al-Taher ridge. There are genuine Lebanese fears that Israeli fire may spread to the nearby city of Nabatieh, one of the largest cities in southern Lebanon, as well as to nearby towns and areas that Israel attacked violently in recent days.

Israel is also expanding the scope of its bombardment and its seizure of more land, as is happening in al-Mansouri, Haddatha and Haris, which are continually subjected to heavy Israeli shelling of homes and infrastructure.

Lebanon also fears that Israel will continue this policy of gradual territorial encroachment into new areas, reaching places near Ali al-Taher such as Kfar Reman, Habboush and Arab Salim.

These fears stem from continuing Israeli attacks that have reached these towns and villages through air and artillery strikes, as well as the ongoing use of heavy machinegun fire towards areas near Ali al-Taher.

Diaspora group urges reforms as Aoun seeks support for Lebanese army in Paris

A committee representing Lebanese diaspora organisations in France said that international support for Lebanon’s army and security forces must be matched by concrete state reforms, as President Joseph Aoun attended a Paris conference on military and security assistance, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.

The Lebanese-French Coordination Committee (CCLF), an umbrella body bringing together several Lebanese diaspora associations in France, said in a letter delivered Thursday to Aoun via Lebanon’s ambassador in Paris, Rabieh Chaer, that restoring sovereignty requires full implementation of government decisions on security, defense, and border control.

The committee said a ceasefire and stronger armed forces alone cannot substitute for the political will needed to enforce sovereign decisions, and called for a public roadmap of administrative and financial reforms, anticorruption measures, judicial independence, and steps to restore confidence in Lebanon’s banking sector.

It also urged an Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory, and a state-led, transparent reconstruction process backed by international partners. France is home to one of the largest Lebanese diaspora communities in Europe, estimated at around 250,000 to 300,000 people.

Israeli forces withdraw from Ali al-Taher Heights, says Israel Army Radio

Israeli Army Radio is reporting that Israeli forces have withdrawn from the Ali al-Taher Heights and repositioned to rear lines in the Shaqif area. The Israeli military said they would maintain fire control over the heights and confront any attempt by Hezbollah to return to the position.

Israel combining military force with politics to consolidate gains in Lebanon

Israel is applying a deliberate mix of military force and diplomacy in Lebanon, using strikes to establish new facts on the ground before working to lock them in politically, according to political analyst Suleiman Basharat.

“This is perhaps the formula that has made Israel keen to keep the political and diplomatic track alive,” Basharat said. “Israeli media reports that preparations are under way for another round of negotiations, perhaps this week or next, as part of this equation Israel is establishing.”

Basharat said Israel’s emphasis on Ali al-Taher, describing it as ‘strategic,’ echoed its earlier treatment of Beaufort Castle, turning the area into “a symbol” of accomplishment.

He said such symbolism serves multiple purposes: justifying continued military action; sustaining Israeli public support for operations; and bolstering Israel’s case to Washington and the world that it is “achieving successes on the ground, regardless of the actual value of those achievements”.

Basharat said Israel’s approach to Ali al-Taher operates on three levels: a military dimension built around claims of destroying tunnels; a political dimension aimed at “maintaining limits on Hezbollah’s capabilities and dismantling them” while presenting the official track with Lebanon as ongoing; and a third dimension, testing “the limits of what Iran could do and how it might respond”.

Unable to hold ground, Hezbollah pursues ‘war of attrition’

From Zeina Khodr:

"The Israeli army used 1,100 tons of explosives to detonate what it is calling an underground military facility, a tunnel network (at Ali al-Taher ridge) that was built and used by Hezbollah.

There is no doubt that Ali al-Taher ridge is strategic ground. It is the vantage point overlooking the city of Nabatieh and much of southern Lebanon as well as northern Israel. The Israeli military is framing this as a strategic victory, a defeat for Hezbollah, a turning point in the war and a tilt in the balance of power.

But Hezbollah is framing this differently. It does not consider this a battlefield loss because Hezbollah has changed tactics. It’s not about holding ground. Since the start of the latest conflict in March, the group cannot hold ground because it is facing an Israeli army that controls the sky.

For Hezbollah, the strategy has been a war of attrition, to make it costly for the invading troops to actually stay in Lebanon. But Hezbollah is facing a very difficult choice because every time it carries out an attack against invading troops, Israel responds by targeting residential areas, forcing people to leave. In the past two weeks, we’ve seen an escalation."

"For Hezbollah, the strategy has been a war of attrition, to make it costly for the invading troops to actually stay in Lebanon. "

This is a similar tactic that Iran uses as Tehran aims to make it for Trump a costly war on Iran.

Netanyahu says Israel has destroyed Hezbollah’s Ali Al-Taher facility, found weapons funded by Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israeli forces have destroyed Hezbollah’s underground Ali Al-Taher facility, located within Israel’s southern Lebanon buffer zone, near Nabatieh.

The Israeli army described the facility as a “strategic infrastructure that was built over two decades” and contained large quantities of weapons funded by Iran, without providing any evidence.

In a separate joint statement, Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said the facility was destroyed following their directive, and that the army has now “completed the organization of the security zone in southern Lebanon”.

“The terror infrastructure and headquarters under the ridge were intended to serve as a base for the conquest of the Galilee, and surveillance and fire over Metula and Kiryat Shmona,” Netanyahu and Katz said, without providing any evidence for their claims.

Netanyahu and Katz said that following the blast, the army is “preparing for defence in the area and to prevent the enemy from returning to the territory”.

Israeli air raids target neighborhoods in Lebanon’s Mansouri, Tyre: Lebanese state media

Israeli forces have carried out several air raids in southern Lebanon’s Mansouri and near the town of Tyre, reports Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA).

The air attacks on Mansouri targeted “infrastructure and residential neighborhoods,” said the agency, while the attack south of Tyre also targeted residential areas, according to the agency.

Israeli forces also fired artillery near the town of Meiss Ej Jabal, reports NNA.

Israel’s defence minister says ready to ‘continue campaign’ against Hezbollah

Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz has said Israel’s military is ready to attack Hezbollah at new locations, after it claimed to have driven Hezbollah fighters out of a tunnel network at southern Lebanon’s Ali Al-Taher ⁠Ridge on Thursday.

“We are ready and prepared to continue the campaign, to continue striking Hezbollah and at additional locations,” said Katz in a statement carried by The Times of Israel.

Hezbollah has not yet confirmed that it lost its positions in the Ali Al-Taher ⁠Ridge.

Israeli air strike hits Nabatieh al-Fawqa in southern Lebanon

Israel has carried out a new air strike on Nabatieh al-Fawqa in southern Lebanon.

Additional details on casualties or the target of the strike were not immediately available.

Israeli army chief vows to block any Hezbollah recovery after Ali al-Taher blast

Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir has said Israel will not allow Hezbollah to rebuild its capabilities after the army said it had destroyed the Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon, in a blast that triggered a 4.1-magnitude tremor.

In a statement to the army’s 36th Division, which occupies parts of southern Lebanon, Zamir said “every [Lebanese] village where terrorist infrastructure is established” would be “endangering itself”.

He did not clarify what the Israeli army considers “terrorist infrastructure” or how such operations might affect civilians.

Zamir also said agreements between Israel and Lebanon would not move forward unless the Lebanese army “demonstrates effectiveness on the ground”.

Israeli attacks from October 2023 to September 2026 have killed 8,920 people and injured 30,595, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said in a statement on Saturday.

Israeli air strike hits Mansouri, southern Lebanon

Israel has carried out a new wave of air strikes on the town of Mansouri in the Tyre district of southern Lebanon.

Additional details on casualties or the target of the strike were not immediately available.

Israel expanding territory ‘by fire’ after destruction of Ali al-Taher ridge

From Zeina Khodr:

"The Ali al-Taher ridge is now under the control of the Israeli army, which has detonated what it is saying is an “underground Hezbollah military infrastructure,” where the group stored weapons and where there was a tunnel network.

The Israeli army used 1,100 tons of explosives to blow up the underground facility. The detonations were massive — they were felt from kilometers away and even triggered a 4.1-magnitude earthquake. The Israeli army is framing this as a strategic victory, a defeat for Hezbollah, and says the balance of power has tilted in its favor. There is no doubt of its position and vantage point — it overlooks the city of Nabatieh, as well as other areas in Lebanon, and overlooks areas in northern Israel.

Now, Hezbollah is not framing this as a battlefield defeat, but as part of a change in tactics and strategy. Hezbollah has for a while now been saying that it cannot hold ground, especially against an Israeli army that is superior in its technology and controls the skies. So Hezbollah’s strategy has been one of attrition – but every time it launches attacks against invading troops, Israel targets civilian areas and homes, killing civilians. A few days ago, it killed nearly 30 people, including children, over a span of three days, with US Ambassador Michel Issa saying that if Hezbollah attacks Israel, it should expect Israel to respond tenfold.

So that’s Israel establishing a set of rules of engagement that gives Hezbollah little choice for the time being, while the diplomatic track has stalled and negotiations between the Israeli and Lebanese governments have not progressed. The Israeli army should be gradually withdrawing from occupied territory in southern Lebanon, in line with an agreement signed with Beirut – instead, it’s controlling more territory by fire."