An Israeli demolition in Beni Hayyan, south Lebanon, on Aug. 17, 2026. (Credit: Photo shared by our correspondent Mountasser Abdallah and enhanced by L’Orient-Le Jour)
SOUTH LEBANON — Hezbollah said Tuesday, through one of its lawmakers, that it would “not abandon” the strategic Ali Taher hills overlooking the city of Nabatieh, which the Israeli army is reportedly seeking to seize, according to several media outlets. Israel shelled the hills overnight from Monday to Tuesday.
Speaking to Radio Sputnik, Hezbollah MP Hassan Ezzeddine said the group “will stand up to any act of aggression.” “Ali Taher is one of the Resistance’s key positions,” he said, adding that Hezbollah “will fulfill its national duty if Israel attacks the site.” The lawmaker also said that any assistance from Iran in this context would provide an additional source of strength, going so far as to say that Tehran “could establish a new equation regarding Ali Taher.”
Israeli authorities consider Ali Taher to house Hezbollah’s military headquarters in south Lebanon, senior officers from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as well as party officials and fighters of other nationalities.
Ezzeddine also said that the framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel, signed in late June under U.S. auspices, “means nothing” to Hezbollah. Echoing comments made Sunday by the group’s secretary-general, Naim Qassem, he stressed that “anger in the streets exists and persists,” but that its use would await “the right time and circumstances.”
Mansouri under Israeli fire
Meanwhile, Mansouri (Sour district), another area where the Israeli army is seeking to advance, has come under sustained Israeli fire since last night. An airstrike hit the village around 3 a.m., followed by artillery fire in the morning and earthmoving operations on communal land. In the early afternoon, Israeli forces destroyed a public water reservoir on the same land that supplied the village with water, according to our correspondent.
In the morning, Israeli artillery also shelled the outskirts of Mayfadoun and Zawtar Sharqieh (Nabatieh). In the latter village, the Israeli army subsequently set fire to a villa on the outskirts. Israeli soldiers also fired machine guns toward Haddatha and Aita al-Jabal (Bint Jbeil) early in the day. In the Hasbaya district, Israeli forces carried out a demolition operation in the Birket al-Naqqar area, on the outskirts of Shebaa. In the mid-afternoon, artillery fire was reported on the outskirts of Houla (Marjayoun).
During the night, the Israeli air force bombed the outskirts of Deir Siryane (Marjayoun), while artillery targeted Dohat Kfar Roummane (Nabatieh). Around midnight, an Israeli drone also flew at low altitude over residential areas in Zawtar Gharbieh (Nabatieh).
On Monday, Israel bombed at least 10 localities and carried out major demolition operations targeting homes and infrastructure in other parts of South Lebanon. Israel has killed 4,346 people and wounded 12,301 in South Lebanon since the war with Hezbollah resumed on March 2.
Haykal denounces Israeli 'attacks and violations'
Lebanese Army Commander-in-Chief Rodolph Haykal received Edward Gabriel, president of the American Task Force for Lebanon (ATFL) and a former U.S. ambassador to Morocco, in Yarze. During the meeting, he denounced the fact that “the army continues to carry out all missions related to the framework agreement, within the limits of its available means, while the Israeli occupation forces continue their attacks and violations of the arrangements in force under this agreement,” according to an ANI statement.
According to its website, the ATFL is a nonprofit organization made up of “prominent Americans of Lebanese descent” whose mission is to promote the importance of a “strong bilateral relationship” between the United States and Lebanon.
