Israel claims control of Lebanon’s key Ali al-Taher ridge: What that means

Israel says it has taken operational control of Ali al-Taher, a strategically important ridge in southern Lebanon that rises 600 metres above sea level and lies about 15 kilometres from the border.

Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israeli forces had driven Hezbollah fighters from a network of tunnels beneath the contested highland. “Prime Minister Netanyahu and I are leading a clear and uncompromising policy, reinforced every day by the [Israeli military]: Israel will not withdraw from the security zone in Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed throughout Lebanon and the threats to the residents of the Galilee are removed,” he said, according to Israeli media. “The capture of Ali Taher is an important step towards achieving this goal.”

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Prime Minister Netanyahu and I are leading a clear and uncompromising policy, reinforced every day by the [Israeli military]: Israel will not withdraw from the security zone in Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed throughout Lebanon and the threats to the residents of the Galilee are removed.

Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, has not formally commented on the Israeli claim. Hours before Katz spoke, Reuters reported that Iran had warned the United States last month that it would respond forcefully if Israeli attacks on the ridge continued.

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The capture of Ali Taher is an important step towards achieving this goal.

Israel and Hezbollah have fought with varying intensity since October 2023. Israel escalated the conflict in September 2024 and again in March this year, after the US-Israeli war on Iran began. Since the latest escalation, Israel has worked to entrench its occupation of southern Lebanon after announcing a security or buffer zone.

Rights groups say the zone has involved the deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure, potentially amounting to a war crime, and has displaced hundreds of thousands of Lebanese. Israeli strikes and ground operations around Ali al-Taher continued despite a June ceasefire. Israel had already gained control of nearby Beaufort Castle and higher ground overlooking much of southern Lebanon and northern Israel.

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There aren’t any consequences to their actions.

Mohanad Hage Ali of the Carnegie Middle East Centre attributed Israel’s success partly to technological superiority and partly to what he called the complete absence of “inhibition” in attacks on Lebanese towns and villages. “There aren’t any consequences to their actions,” he said. “They can demolish entire villages and wipe out whole societies in a way they could never do before. It’s ethnic cleansing.”

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They can demolish entire villages and wipe out whole societies in a way they could never do before. It’s ethnic cleansing.