Israel says it has destroyed major underground Hezbollah base

Israel's military notes it has destroyed a substantial underground complex operated by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Key points

• It remarked it employed more than 1, 000 tonnes of explosives to destroy two tunnels spanning more than 2km (1.2 miles) beneath the Ali Taher Ridge.
• Extra reporting by Raffi Berg in London and Samantha Granville and Ghaith Solh in Beirut.
• Lebanese media documented fresh Israeli strikes elsewhere in the south on Thursday, including Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Mansouri in the Tyre district.
• Under the Lebanon-Israel framework, Hezbollah is projected to disarm, Israeli forces to withdraw gradually from southern Lebanon and the Lebanese army to deploy throughout the area.
• Fighting fell after a ceasefire accord between Iran and the US in June, alongside a separate agreement between Lebanon and Israel.

In practice, the blast triggered seismic activity equivalent to a magnitude 4.1 earthquake, according to the US Geological Survey.

There was no immediate public response from Hezbollah or the Lebanese administration.

Israeli forces took control of the ridge last week after months of fighting with the Iran-backed group there. The Israeli military occupies a sizeable swathe of southern Lebanon captured after the conflict with Hezbollah resumed in March.

Images published by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) demonstrated a fireball lighting up the sky.

"The sky lit up and about 15 seconds later we heard the terrifying sound, " Ahamed, a resident in Nabatieh, regarding 6km west of the ridge, informed the BBC.

"The house shook all together as if it was literally an earthquake."

He remarked residents were screaming and children were crying, and that cars filled the roads as individuals left the area for Beirut.

Tremors were even felt in the coastal city of Saida 40km north.

As well as anti-tank weapons, mines and explosives, the IDF remarked the underground infrastructure included a command centre employed by Hezbollah's Badr unit and contained dozens of rockets, missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.

"This was strategic infrastructure that was constructed over two decades, funded and planned by the Iranian terror regime, " the IDF remarked in an official note on Telegram.

"All of the terrorists who were inside the infrastructure were eliminated or fled."

Notably, the IDF remarked the destruction of the complex completed a mission to destroy eight tunnels and establish a "security zone" in the area.

For context, the latest action comes against the backdrop of renewed fighting in southern Lebanon, where Israeli forces have expanded operations against Hezbollah positions and continue to hold what Israel describes as a security zone near the border.

Notably, the Lebanese army has rose deployments in areas outside Israeli control, including the southern city of Nabatieh, in efforts to strengthen stability and reassure residents, local television station MTV noted.

When Hezbollah introduced rockets into Israel in retaliation for a strike that killed Iran's supreme leader, lebanon was drawn into the war between Israel, the US and Iran on 2 March.

Israel responded by launching a bombing campaign throughout Lebanon and invading a significant part of the country's south. Its forces continue to occupy roughly 5% of Lebanese territory.

Hezbollah was not directly involved in the agreement and has rejected direct negotiations.

Despite a reduction in fighting, Israeli strikes and demolitions in southern Lebanon have continued.

At least 4, 362 individuals have been killed in Lebanon during the conflict, including 395 women and 259 children, according to the health ministry, whose figures do not differentiate between combatants and civilians.

Israeli authorities say 40 Israeli soldiers and four civilians have been killed.

Taken together, the developments around israel says it has destroyed major underground Hezbollah base point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.