Ali al-Taher: How Hezbollah Handed Israel Its Underground Fortress on a Silver Platter

On Thursday evening, the Israeli military announced it had taken "operational control" of the Ali al-Taher ridge, in the Nabatieh district. Rising to roughly 600 meters, the position overlooks Beaufort Castle, the Litani valley, Nabatieh and the Jezzine heights. Beneath the hill, troops of the 36th Division uncovered an underground complex built over two decades and financed by Iran: command rooms, weapons depots, living quarters — the headquarters of the regional Badr division, responsible for the sector north of the Litani. "The capture of the Ali Taher ridge marks the completion of control over the security zone in southern Lebanon," Defense Minister Israel Katz declared.

The military victory is clear-cut, and it came at a heavy price: on June 19, an attempted advance up the northern slope killed four Israeli soldiers, including an armored battalion commander. But the heart of this story doesn't play out in the tunnels. It plays out in the diplomatic timeline surrounding them.

Because on June 26, a Washington-brokered agreement was signed by the Lebanese state, Israel and the United States: redeployment of the Lebanese army in the South in exchange for Hezbollah's disarmament. In July, Israel even withdrew from three pilot zones, including Zawtar el-Gharbiyeh, a village neighboring Ali al-Taher, where the Lebanese army moved in. The exit ramp existed. It was written in black and white.

Hezbollah refused it. Starting August 19, several Lebanese newspapers confirmed that the movement was rejecting any handover of the site — not just to Israel, but to the Lebanese army itself. A source within the movement, quoted by Al-Joumhouriya, ruled out surrendering the heights "to the Lebanese army, to Israel or to anyone," fearing a precedent. Even the efforts of President Joseph Aoun, backed by Nabih Berry — a historic Hezbollah ally — were rebuffed.

Here is the admission no one should let slide: Hezbollah fears Lebanese sovereignty more than it fears defeat at the hands of the IDF. In its logic, losing Ali al-Taher in battle is a setback; handing it to the Lebanese state would set a precedent that would unravel its very reason for being — that of a state within a state, armed by Tehran. As Ici Beyrouth, a Lebanese outlet hostile to the "Party of God," puts it: by refusing to cede the ridge to the Lebanese army, Hezbollah "handed the site to Israel on a silver platter."

And this is where an unprecedented convergence emerges: on Ali al-Taher, Israel's interests and those of the Lebanese state point in the same direction. Every stronghold the IDF dismantles is a stronghold Beirut will never have to retake. Katz made the condition explicit: no withdrawal "until Hezbollah is disarmed." In other words, the key to Lebanese sovereignty now sits on the table — and it is Hezbollah, not Israel, refusing to pick it up. The Lebanese press itself is starting to say so. That may be the real new reality taking hold south of the Litani.