The aftermath of Israeli explosions on the Ali Taher ridge, which triggered a 4.1-magnitude tremor. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — Israeli army Chief of Staff Gen. Eyal Zamir called on the Lebanese Army to “significantly improve its effectiveness on the ground” so that it can disarm Hezbollah, according to remarks he made to soldiers of the 91st Division during a visit to northern Israel, cited in a post on X by Israeli army spokesperson Ella Waweya.
“The campaign is not over yet, and challenges still lie ahead,” Zamir said, stressing that the Israeli army “continues to pursue the supreme and enduring objective of disarming” Hezbollah in Lebanon. According to Zamir, “this objective can only be achieved as part of a desired agreement with the Lebanese government if the Lebanese Army significantly improves its effectiveness on the ground.”
Zamir’s remarks came on the eve of a preparatory conference in Paris dedicated to supporting the Lebanese Army, which has been tasked since 2025 with the historic mission of disarming Hezbollah. The army, however, has refused to carry out the task by force.
“We are operating from advanced defensive positions based on a deep presence in enemy territory [Lebanese territory], beyond the border,” Zamir said, as Israel continues to occupy more than 600 square kilometers in southern Lebanon. “We will not allow the terrorist organization Hezbollah to rebuild its strength, restore its capabilities or reestablish terrorist infrastructure in the region,” the Israeli army chief added.
Zamir also said that, in light of “the evolution of the battlefield” and “the lessons we have learned from the war,” the Israeli army would “establish a branch dedicated to robotics, which will develop capabilities in the air, at sea and on land” in the coming months. “We are developing new capabilities and expanding the use of manned and unmanned means to increase our operational effectiveness,” he said.
He also praised the “capabilities” used by the Israeli army to capture the area around Beaufort Castle in late May and the Ali Taher ridge in early September.
The Israeli army spokesperson also published two videos, both purportedly showing an Israeli army officer inside a tunnel beneath the Ali Taher ridge.“We have discovered infrastructure built over many years by the Iranian terrorist arm and the Hezbollah terrorist organization. We will not leave here until we have destroyed all the combat means and infrastructure we have discovered,” one of the officers said. Over the past six months, the Israeli army has carried out “operations of scouting, study, mapping and destruction” targeting Hezbollah infrastructure around Beaufort Castle and on the Ali Taher heights, he said.
A week ago, the Israeli army detonated 1,100 tons of explosives to destroy a command center, tunnels and Hezbollah weapons depots beneath the Ali Taher heights. Following the destruction of the site, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted that the army had destroyed “the largest Iranian military site outside Iran.”
The explosions had a significant psychological and morale impact on Hezbollah, according to the Israeli army, given the site’s strong symbolic significance to the group.