IDF demolishes Hezbollah tunnels below southern Lebanon’s Beaufort Ridge

The Israeli military blew up a Hezbollah tunnel system beneath the Beaufort Ridge in southern Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz announced late Thursday night in a joint statement.

They said the Israel Defense Forces used 700 tons of explosives to demolish the subterranean facility.

The demolition was planned for an earlier date but had been postponed due to the framework deal reached in June. Netanyahu and Katz said the destruction of the tunnel system was in response to Hezbollah’s “blatant” violation of the ceasefire agreement on Wednesday, when it targeted an unmanned bulldozer with an explosive drone.

The tunnel, which journalists toured earlier this month, served as a “central part of the Hezbollah terror organization’s invasion plan against the Galilee communities,” the statement said.

“The State of Israel will not accept any violation of the ceasefire agreement. Any attempt by Hezbollah to harm IDF troops or Israeli civilians will be met with a severe and powerful response that will exact a heavy price from the terrorist organization,” Netanyahu and Katz said, adding that the IDF “will remain in the security zone in southern Lebanon and will continue to destroy all terror infrastructure to prevent any attempt by Hezbollah to restore its capabilities.”

The IDF in its own statement said it demolished “several key underground routes in the Beaufort Ridge area.”

“Over the past several weeks, IDF troops completed securing the Beaufort Ridge area, while taking control of and clearing the underground infrastructure and preparing it for destruction,” the military said.

The military had already demolished a tunnel on July 13 that was part of the Beaufort Ridge area underground system. With the latest demolition, most of the tunnel network in the area has been destroyed.

The IDF is also still monitoring a massive Hezbollah tunnel system beneath the Ali Taher ridge, near Nabatieh, where dozens of operatives are still believed to be holed up. However, because of the ceasefire agreement, the IDF has been prevented from capturing the underground passages beneath the ridge, though it has continued to operate in other parts of south Lebanon.

The June deal called for the Lebanese military to deploy in areas in southern Lebanon where Hezbollah had previously held a military presence and influence, paving the way for Israel to withdraw from the buffer zone it holds in the south. Technical teams from each side will meet from August 4 to 6 to focus on advancing the implementation of the framework agreement meant to lead to an eventual peace deal between Israel and Lebanon.

Channel 12 news reported Wednesday that Israel told mediators that it would not agree to additional withdrawals from territory in southern Lebanon during the talks next week, saying it would halt further pullouts south of the so-called “yellow line” that marks the buffer zone until Hezbollah is disarmed. The Iran-backed terror group has rejected disarmament and opposes the Israel-Lebanon talks.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.