A woman walks past a building destroyed by Israel in the village of Zawtar Gharbieh, in southern Lebanon, on July 26, 2026. (Credit: Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)
SOUTH LEBANON — Israel resumed heavy bombing of the Ali Taher heights in the district of Nabatieh over the weekend, raising doubts over renewed tensions over the area. The Israelis have repeatedly claimed the strategic hill to be an underground Hezbollah “command base” as a pretext for bombing it.
The hill is currently partially encircled by the Israeli army, which has accused Hezbollah of attempting to spy on it using a drone. According to Israeli army radio, soldiers fired at a drone belonging to Hezbollah “that was attempting to gather intelligence on Israeli forces in Lebanon” mobilized in the Ali Taher area. The drone was unarmed, but was equipped with a camera. The device was shot down, according to the military outlet, which accuses Hezbollah of “continuing to send drones” towards Israeli occupying forces. The radio also recalled that “dozens of Hezbollah members are encircled underground in the Ali Taher area, while the Israeli army controls the surface terrain.”
Moreover, according to Lebanese military sources quoted by Erem News, a media outlet based in Abu Dhabi, Hezbollah is on alert in southern Lebanon “under the supervision of a commander from the al-Quds Force,” the branch responsible for overseas operations of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, and is moving equipment and fighters for fear that the U.S. war against Iran will extend to the region and Lebanon as a whole. According to these sources, the Ali Taher hill has become an “operational center from which Hezbollah’s redeployment is coordinated.”
Contacted by L'Orient Today, the Lebanese Army stated it had no information on this issue, while Hezbollah did not immediately respond to our requests for comment. Since the agreement signed between the United States and Iran in mid-June which calls for a “cessation of hostilities” in the region and especially in Lebanon, Hezbollah has not claimed any attacks against Israeli forces and says it is respecting this truce.
Shooting and demolitions in southern Lebanon
Earlier in the morning, our correspondent in southern Lebanon reported artillery fire on the hills of Ali Taher.
Further south, also in the “buffer zone” occupied by Israel over 620 km2, an Israeli drone fired stun grenades on Mansouri (Sour) whilst Israeli soldiers set fire to homes in Beit Yahoun (Bint Jbeil).
The night from Sunday to Monday was marked by Israeli demolitions of houses and civilian infrastructure using explosives, with several incidents in Haddatha and others in Tiri, Rshaf (Bint Jbeil), and Qantara (Marjayoun).
Israel has destroyed dozens of homes and infrastructure in southern Lebanon since Sunday morning, while also bombing a village and targeting three others with artillery fire, according to our correspondent.
The situation prompted the Lebanese Army to condemn “the continued firing and destruction by Israeli troops in southern Lebanon,” which prevents it from carrying out its deployment provided for by the “framework agreement” signed at the end of June between Lebanon and Israel in Washington.
Under the framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel, the first “pilot zones” were reinvested this week by the Lebanese army in Zawtar Gharbieh (Nabatieh) as well as in Srifa and Froun (Bint Jbeil) in the central sector.
