Israel says it has destroyed major underground Hezbollah base

Image source, Israel Defense ForcesImage caption, The Israeli military said it blew up more than a mile of tunnels

Israel's military says it has destroyed a large underground complex operated by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

It said it used more than 1,000 tonnes of explosives to destroy two tunnels spanning more than 2km (1.2 miles) beneath the Ali Taher Ridge.

The blast triggered seismic activity equivalent to a magnitude 4.1 earthquake, according to the US Geological Survey.

There was no immediate public response from Hezbollah or the Lebanese government.

Israeli forces took control of the ridge last week after months of fighting with the Iran-backed group there. The Israeli military occupies a large swathe of southern Lebanon captured after the conflict with Hezbollah resumed in March.

Images released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) showed a fireball lighting up the sky.

"The house shook all together as if it was literally an earthquake."

He said people were screaming and children were crying, and that cars filled the roads as people left the area for Beirut.

Tremors were even felt in the coastal city of Saida 40km north.

The IDF said the underground infrastructure included a command centre used by Hezbollah's Badr unit and contained dozens of rockets, missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as anti-tank weapons, mines and explosives.

"This was strategic infrastructure that was constructed over two decades, funded and planned by the Iranian terror regime," the IDF said in a statement on Telegram.

"All of the terrorists who were inside the infrastructure were eliminated or fled."

The IDF said the destruction of the complex completed a mission to destroy eight tunnels and establish a "security zone" in the area.

The latest action comes amid renewed fighting in southern Lebanon, where Israeli forces have expanded operations against Hezbollah positions and continue to hold what Israel describes as a security zone near the border.

Lebanese media reported fresh Israeli strikes elsewhere in the south on Thursday, including Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Mansouri in the Tyre district.

The Lebanese army has increased deployments in areas outside Israeli control, including the southern city of Nabatieh, in efforts to strengthen stability and reassure residents, local television station MTV reported.

Lebanon was drawn into the war between Israel, the US and Iran on 2 March, when Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for a strike that killed Iran's supreme leader.

Israel responded by launching a bombing campaign across Lebanon and invading a significant part of the country's south. Its forces continue to occupy roughly 5% of Lebanese territory.

Fighting decreased following a ceasefire deal between Iran and the US in June, alongside a separate agreement between Lebanon and Israel.

The UN says about 330,000 people in Lebanon remain displaced by the conflict, with Israeli military activity, air strikes, destruction and restrictions on returning to Israeli-occupied areas preventing many from going home.

Under the Lebanon-Israel framework, Hezbollah is expected to disarm, Israeli forces to withdraw gradually from southern Lebanon and the Lebanese army to deploy across the area.

Hezbollah was not directly involved in the agreement and has rejected direct negotiations.

Despite a reduction in fighting, Israeli strikes and demolitions in southern Lebanon have continued.

At least 4,383 people - including 395 women and 259 children - have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli attacks since 2 March, according to the health ministry, whose figures do not differentiate between combatants and civilians. At least 29 have been killed this week, the ministry says.

Israeli authorities say 40 Israeli soldiers and four civilians have been killed in the same period.

Additional reporting by Raffi Berg in London and Samantha Granville and Ghaith Solh in Beirut

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