Israel defence minister hails capture of Hezbollah highland in Lebanon

Jerusalem, September 4 — Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz praised the capture of the Ali Tahar ridge from Hezbollah, emphasizing that it solidifies Israel's security zone in southern Lebanon. Katz stated that the Israeli military would neutralize the tunnels and hold the ridge to prevent Hezbollah from re-establishing itself in the area.

He vowed that Israeli troops would remain in the security zone until Hezbollah was disarmed throughout Lebanon and the threats to residents in the Galilee were removed. This capture comes after a series of confrontations between Israel and Hezbollah since early March, with the latter group retaliating for the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

The conflict has resulted in over 4,300 casualties according to Lebanese authorities. Although the conflict has subsided following a US-Iran memorandum of understanding and a framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon's government in June, the agreement between Iran and the US remains fragile, with US forces resuming attacks on Iran this week.