IDF forces are tightly encircling a sprawling and strategically critical Hezbollah tunnel network on the Ali Taher Ridge in southern Lebanon, where an estimated 40 Hezbollah operatives remain trapped underground with no way out, according to a report Monday by Israeli outlet N12. Israeli defense officials assess that the besieged fighters' remaining stockpiles of food, water, medical supplies, and power are expected to run out entirely within just a few days, and the army has moved to heightened alert over concerns the trapped men may attempt a desperate breakout or ambush against the surrounding forces.
Large IDF units are physically positioned on the steep, rocky terrain surrounding every known entrance to the underground complex, successfully blocking any attempt by Hezbollah fighters to reach the surface. A senior military source told N12 that Hezbollah has suffered a serious blow and is now in an underground state of reorganization, while the IDF continues to eliminate cells attempting to break through and is investigating the circumstances of a recent incident in Deir Siriane. The source added that if the trapped fighters had any way to escape, they would already have done so.
Command sources in the field say the army is preparing for the possibility that the besieged fighters, facing a worsening physical crisis underground and with no remaining options, may choose to act rather than surrender, whether through a desperate attack or an attempt to ambush the surrounding forces with gunfire or explosive devices. As a result, the operational alertness of troops in the area has been significantly raised.
Ali Taher Ridge has for years served as one of Hezbollah's most heavily fortified strongholds in all of southern Lebanon, from which the organization directed much of its activity in the region. Built with substantial resources and believed to have Iranian assistance, the underground complex includes an extensive network of command bunkers and combat tunnels stretching more than a kilometer combined, and functioned as a central war-management hub, command and control center, and storage site for large quantities of weapons and rocket-launching equipment aimed at Israel.
The Israeli Air Force has struck the fortified complex multiple times with heavy bombs during the fighting, but its extreme depth within the rock has prevented aerial strikes alone from fully destroying it, ultimately necessitating the tight ground siege IDF forces are now carrying out in an effort to finally subdue the remaining terrorists inside.
