Israel claims destruction of large underground Hezbollah facility in southern Lebanon

Israel's defence forces announced that they have demolished a sizable underground complex used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, employing over 1,000 tonnes of explosives to collapse two tunnels that stretched more than two kilometres beneath the Ali Taher Ridge. The explosion generated seismic activity measured by the U.S. Geological Survey as comparable to a magnitude 4.1 earthquake.

Residents near the ridge reported a bright fireball and a loud sound that shook houses, with tremors felt as far as the coastal city of Saida, about 40 km to the north. The Israeli military said the destroyed infrastructure housed a command centre for Hezbollah's Badr unit, along with rockets, missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, anti-tank weapons, mines and other explosives.

"This was strategic infrastructure that was constructed over two decades, funded and planned by the Iranian terror regime," the IDF said in a statement circulated on Telegram.

The IDF added that all individuals present in the facility were either killed or fled, and that the operation completed a mission to eliminate eight tunnels and establish a security zone in the area. Israeli forces have maintained control of the ridge since last week after months of fighting, and continue to hold a swath of southern Lebanon captured during the renewed conflict that began in March.

Lebanese media reported additional Israeli strikes in the south, including in Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Mansouri. The Lebanese army has increased deployments outside the Israeli-controlled zone to bolster stability, according to local television reports.

The broader conflict, which escalated in early March after Hezbollah fired rockets in retaliation for a strike that killed Iran's supreme leader, has resulted in more than 4,300 deaths in Lebanon, according to the health ministry, though the figures do not separate combatants from civilians.