Tremor recorded in southern Lebanon as Israel destroys Ali al-Taher tunnels

Israel said Thursday it demolished key tunnels built by the Iran-backed Hezbollah group beneath the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon, with a 4.1 magnitude tremor recorded in the area.

AFP journalists in the area heard several explosions. In a video shared by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, a huge fireball can be seen rising into the night sky.

The explosion comes a few days after Israeli authorities claimed to have taken control of the Ali al-Taher ridge, claiming that Hezbollah had dug numerous tunnels there.

Israeli troops occupy swathes of southern Lebanon, establishing a so-called "security zone" along the entire border region.

A joint statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Katz said the tunnels were strategic infrastructure "built over two decades, with Iranian funding and planning."

The destruction "completes the achievement of operational control over the Ali al-Taher ridge -- above and below ground", the statement added.

The United States Geological Survey meanwhile reported a 4.1 magnitude tremor in the area, after Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israel carried out a "massive explosion" on the Ali al-Taher ridge in the Nabatiyeh region, "causing tremors and a powerful rumble".

AFP journalists in south Lebanon also said they heard "huge explosions" on Thursday evening.

"We were sitting there and everything shook," Joelle Fares, who recently moved to Marjaayoun, told AFP.

Israel announced last week that it had captured the Ali al-Taher ridge. Hezbollah has remained silent on the matter.

The Israeli army said the Hezbollah infrastructure extended for more than two kilometres (1.2 miles) and contained "dozens of Iranian-made rockets, missiles, and UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), as well as machine guns, dozens of anti-tank missiles, and hundreds of mines and explosive devices".

The underground compound also included a command centre of Hezbollah's "Badr" unit, the army added.

A military official told AFP that some of the militants that had operated in the area of the ridge had abandoned it, while others were "eliminated by aerial strikes and artillery fire".

The official said Hezbollah members had dug eight underground routes to move safely beneath the ridge, and several dozen explosive drones and hundreds of mines were seized by the Israeli army.

An all-out war resumed on 2 March when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel in support of its backer Iran. Israel had already been violating a November 2024 ceasefire with daily attacks on Lebanese soil. The wider conflict between Hezbollah and Israel began in October 2023.

There had been a lull in violence after the agreement reached between Lebanon and Israel in June, and talks are set to resume next week. But Israeli strikes have increased in intensity in recent days, killing dozens of people.

During negotiations, the United States, which is sponsoring the talks, proposed that the Lebanese army take control of the Ali al-Taher ridge, but Hezbollah refused, a source close to the parties told AFP.

Beirut authorities say Israeli strikes have killed more than 4,300 people in total since March, and more than 8,500 since October 2023. Israeli forces continue to occupy a so-called "security zone" in the south and have wiped out dozens of towns and villages.