Israel claims control of Lebanon’s key Ali al-Taher ridge: What that means

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lista 2 de 4: ataque de 7 de outubro molda eleições em Israel e alimenta culpa política.

Drones israelenses lançam bombas em Mansouri, sul do Líbano.

In a statement on Friday, Defence Minister Israel Katz claimed Israeli forces had driven Hezbollah fighters out of what he said was a network of tunnels ⁠⁠under the contested highland, 15km (10 miles) from the border.

O Hezbollah apoiado pelo Irã ainda não se pronunciou formalmente sobre as alegações israelenses. No entanto, horas antes dos comentários de Katz, a agência de notícias Reuters informou que o Irã havia alertado os Estados Unidos no mês passado de que responderia de forma contundente caso os ataques israelenses no morro, que se eleva a 600 metros acima do nível do mar (1.

Israel and Hezbollah have been fighting, with varying levels of intensity, since October 2023. Israel has twice escalated the conflict – first in September 2024 and then in March this year, following the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Israel has been working to embed its occupation of southern Lebanon since the latest escalation, when it announced the creation of a “security” or “buffer” zone, which rights groups say has involved the deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure – potentially a war crime – and is responsible for the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese.

Israeli strikes and ground operations around the Ali al-Taher ridge continued despite a ceasefire agreed in June, after Israel gained control of nearby Beaufort Castle and part of the higher ground overlooking much of southern Lebanon and northern Israel.

De acordo com Mohanad Hage Ali, do Carnegie Middle East Centre, o sucesso de Israel tem sido em parte devido à superioridade tecnológica, mas também à completa ausência de “inhibition” em seus ataques a cidades e vilarejos libaneses, que frequentemente registram taxas diárias de baixas de dezenas de pessoas.

Pitched as a measure to protect citizens of northern Israel, who Israeli analysts such as Ori Goldberg described as being owed an electoral debt by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of crucial elections later this year, the occupation is also a means of exerting additional pressure on the government in Beirut.

Nicholas Blanford, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and an authority on the group, said Hezbollah’s lack of comment on the Israeli claims raised a number of questions.

Analistas também sugeriram que a falta de resposta de Teerã pode frustrar Netanyahu, que investiu grande parte de seu capital eleitoral na conclusão da guerra com o Irã, um adversário que ele caracteriza como uma ameaça existencial ao país desde pelo menos o início dos anos 1990.

Katz has described an attack against Israel as freeing its military “from all constraints”, and that in such a scenario, the military would “strike all infrastructure – including energy infrastructure – and return Iran to the Stone Age and darkness”, all of which would almost certainly constitute war crimes.

No entanto, até que ponto Israel – diplomático, economicamente e militarmente dependente dos EUA – pode avançar além da retórica permanece em aberto.

With Netanyahu predicted to struggle in October’s elections, what happens in southern Lebanon may prove crucial.

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Em números

• Lah fighters out of what he said was a network of tunnels ⁠⁠under the contested highland, 15km (10 miles) from the border