Israel’s announcement that it has established what it called “operational control” over Ali al-Taher ridge marks a new phase in southern Lebanon, raising questions that go beyond the site’s fate: what comes next militarily, and how the development could shape forthcoming negotiations. The Israeli military said troops from its 36th Division had gained “operational control” above and below ground in the area. It said Hezbollah fighters had been killed and others had fled, while operations continued to destroy underground facilities. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the ridge no longer posed a threat to Israel. Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israeli forces would not withdraw from what he described as a “security zone” in southern Lebanon until Hezbollah was disarmed. He said control of the Ali al-Taher ridge marks the end of a phase in consolidating Israeli control over this area. Hezbollah questions Israel’s claim Ihab Hamadeh, an MP from Hezbollah’s Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc, questioned whether Israel had secured full control of Ali al-Taher. He said the continuing bombardment contradicted claims of complete control on the ground and that Israel had released no images showing its forces entering the facility or seizing the weapons it said were there. Mahmoud Qamati, deputy head of Hezbollah’s political council, said Israel had tried to portray Ali al-Taher as a “vast military facility” when it was, in fact, “a collection of defensive positions.” Separately, Israel’s Maariv newspaper quoted an Israeli military source as saying 15 bodies had been found inside tunnels in the area. Leverage in Rome Academic and political researcher Hayat Hariri told Asharq Al-Awsat that the developments at Ali al-Taher were far from routine. “What happened at Ali al-Taher ridge was not an ordinary military development, as some in Hezbollah and among its allies are trying to portray it,” she said. “Nor can it be placed in the same category as sites that witnessed previous confrontations, because Ali al-Taher’s importance lies in its strategic location and its impact on the broader battlefield in southern Lebanon.” Hariri said operational control of the ridge would give Israel influence over a broad swathe of southern Lebanon. “The ridge overlooks Nabatieh and the Marjayoun plain as far as the Upper Galilee, giving it considerable military and strategic importance,” she said. “More dangerously, any advance beyond Ali al-Taher could make it easier to move toward Iqlim al-Tuffah, Jabal al-Rayhan and the Jezzine district.” “If Israel continues along this path, then, in my assessment, it is moving toward entrenching a buffer zone stretching from Naqoura to the western Bekaa and geographically linked to the Syrian theater — a vision Israel has discussed in various forms since 2023.” Hariri said the battlefield developments, led by those at Ali al-Taher, would give Israel additional leverage over Lebanon in the anticipated negotiations in Rome. “Israel will try to argue that the Lebanese state was unable to push Hezbollah to hand the site over to the Lebanese army and that the Israeli military was the force that completed the mission on the ground,” she said. “If Israel succeeds in establishing its narrative that the Lebanese state remains unable to address Hezbollah’s weapons and deployment, it may gain additional room to act, though that would not necessarily mean heading toward an all-out war.” Hariri said the development would increase political pressure on the Lebanese state and give Israel a new bargaining chip in the next round of talks in Rome. “Even the delay in negotiations can be read in light of the developments at Ali al-Taher,” she said. “Before going to the negotiating table, Israel wants to strengthen its position on the ground and try to impose a new security and political reality in southern Lebanon, then negotiate from that position.” Limits of a military advance Retired Brigadier General Khalil al-Jamil, a former commander of the Lebanese army’s South Litani Sector, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the fall of Ali al-Taher represented the loss of an important strategic position, but said Israel’s claim of control required closer scrutiny. “My assessment is that Israel has not yet secured the entire site,” Jamil said. “It has begun establishing control over the surface and moving across it, while continuing to strike the tunnels and facilities beneath it.” “What Israel calls operational control means, at this stage, that its forces can move across the ridge, its bulldozers are operating there, and it has established fire control over the surrounding area and begun entering parts of the site. “It does not necessarily mean Israel has entered and fully secured every tunnel and underground facility.” Jamil said Ali al-Taher was particularly important to the Nabatieh area. “To the west, it overlooks Nabatieh and its surroundings, including Shoukin, Mayfadoun, Kfar Jouz and Kfar Rumman,” he said. “To the east, it overlooks the valley stretching toward Iqlim al-Tuffah and Jezzine and as far as Khardali. “Controlling it, therefore, expands the area Israel can monitor and dominate with fire.” Jamil said, however, that higher ground remained nearby, most notably al-Rayhan, Sujud, and Jabal al-Rafi, all of which overlook Ali al-Taher and the surrounding area. “What happened is an Israeli military achievement and a loss for Hezbollah, but it is not a strategic loss on a scale that would mean the collapse of the front,” he said.
