Israel blew up a Hezbollah base: the explosion caused a 4.1 magnitude earthquake
More than 1,000 tons of explosives were used to destroy two tunnels over 2 kilometers long.
Israel's military announced that a large underground complex used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon had been destroyed.
The Israeli side said more than 1,000 tons of explosives were used to destroy the complex. The explosion destroyed two tunnels running beneath the Ali Tohir ridge, with a total length of more than 2 kilometers.
According to the US Geological Survey, the explosion caused seismic activity equivalent to a magnitude 4.1 earthquake. Hezbollah or the Lebanese government have not yet issued an official response to the incident.
Israeli forces established control over the ridge controlled by the Iran-backed group last week after several months of fighting. Israeli forces still control much of southern Lebanon, which was seized after the conflict with Hezbollah resumed in March.
Images released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) show a huge fireball lighting up the sky.
“The sky lit up and about 15 seconds later we heard a terrible sound,” Ahamed, who lives in the city of Nabatieh, about 6 kilometers west of the ridge area, told the BBC. “The house shook completely as if there had been an earthquake,” he said.
He said people screamed, children cried, and cars filled the roads as people left the area and headed toward Beirut. The earthquake tremors were also felt in the coastal city of Sidon, 40 kilometers to the north.
According to the IDF, the underground infrastructure included a command center used by Hezbollah's “Badr” unit. Dozens of rockets, shells, and drones, as well as anti-tank weapons, mines, and explosives, were stored in the complex.
“This was strategic infrastructure built over more than twenty years, financed and planned by the Iranian terror regime,” the IDF said in a statement on Telegram.
According to the IDF, all fighters who were inside the complex were killed or left the area.
Israeli forces said the destruction of the complex marked the completion of the mission to eliminate eight tunnels in the area and establish a “security zone.”
The latest operation was carried out at a time when fighting has intensified again in southern Lebanon. Israeli forces have expanded operations against Hezbollah positions and continue to control an area near the border that Israel calls a “security zone.”
Lebanese media reported on Thursday that new Israeli strikes were also carried out on other areas of southern Lebanon. In particular, strikes were recorded on the towns of Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Mansouri in the Tyre district.
The Lebanese army has increased its forces in areas not controlled by Israel, including the city of Nabatieh in the south. According to the local MTV channel, these measures are aimed at strengthening stability and ensuring security for the population.
Lebanon was drawn into the war between Israel, the US, and Iran on March 2. That day, Hezbollah fired rockets into Israeli territory in response to the strike that killed Iran's supreme leader.
In response, Israel launched a bombing campaign across Lebanon and invaded much of the country's south. Israeli forces still control about 5 percent of Lebanese territory.
In June, fighting decreased following the conclusion of a ceasefire agreement between Iran and the US and the achievement of a separate agreement between Lebanon and Israel.
According to UN data, nearly 330,000 people in Lebanon have left their homes due to the conflict. Many people are unable to return home because of Israeli military activity, airstrikes, destruction, and restrictions on returning to areas occupied by Israel.
Under the agreement between Lebanon and Israel, Hezbollah is expected to disarm, Israeli forces are to gradually withdraw from southern Lebanon, and the Lebanese army is to be deployed throughout the area.
Hezbollah did not directly participate in the agreement and rejected direct negotiations. Despite the reduction in fighting, Israeli strikes and destruction continue in southern Lebanon.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, at least 4,383 people, including 395 women and 259 children, have been killed as a result of Israeli attacks since March 2. The ministry's data does not separately distinguish between fighters and civilians among the dead. The ministry says at least 29 people were killed this week alone.
Israeli officials have reported that 40 Israeli military personnel and 4 civilians have been killed during this period.
