Louay Faour
The New Arab / July 5, 2026
For weeks, Israeli forces have battled Hezbollah in an attempt to capture the strategic ridge. So what makes this area in South Lebanon so important?
US President Donald Trump has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off from attacking a strategic ridge in southern Lebanon, which Israeli forces have for weeks been trying to capture from Hezbollah.
Citing what it said were informed sources, Israel’s Channel 15 said the Israeli military had been prepared for some time to carry out an operation to destroy the Ali al-Taher ridge, what it described as a key “Hezbollah stronghold,” in the Nabatieh district of southern Lebanon.
But Trump has reportedly asked Netanyahu to postpone any operation to destroy the site, fearing that a major explosion could derail Washington’s negotiations with Tehran. Iran has insisted that a memorandum of understanding reached with the United States last month includes a full ceasefire in southern Lebanon, which Israel has refused.
Netanyahu on Sunday denied that Trump had asked him not to destroy tunnels in South Lebanon, calling the reports “a myth, fake news” – without specifically naming Ali al-Taher.
“He did not say a word to me on the matter, and I did not ask him. We are acting according to our own considerations,” said Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Here, The New Arab takes a closer look at the importance of the ridge, and how its capture could shape events.
What makes Ali al-Taher so important ?
Since deepening its invasion of Lebanon’s south in early March, Israel has captured several key sites in the region, most notably the Beaufort Castle, which overlooks large swathes of southern Lebanon and parts of northern Israel.
As Israeli forces crossed the Litani River, their eyes were set on the major city of Nabatieh, which virtually sits at the centre of all southern Lebanon. The Ali al-Taher ridge overlooks this city from the east.
Situated at 600 meters above sea level and around five kilometres from Beaufort, the ridge would give Israelis a better military viewpoint, providing a commanding view of southern Lebanon, the Galilee Panhandle and beyond.
The elevation would allow Israel to utilise visual and electronic surveillance systems, compared to the lower ground.
Israel also claims that the slopes and woodlands which lie east of the Ali al-Taher are used by Hezbollah fighters to launch operations, making control of the highlands a key objective in securing the territory between the border and the Litani River.
Whoever controls Ali al-Taher effectively commands one of the main approaches to Nabatieh, making it a highly valuable position in southern Lebanon.
Disputed claims
Last month, the Israeli military claimed that a vast underground Hezbollah complex lay beneath the Ali al-Taher ridge. The site is believed to be one of the group’s most important assets.
Fighting has raged in the area for weeks as Israeli forces try to capture the area without success. Their advances toward Ali al-Taher began after capturing the Beaufort fortress.
While entering the alleged complex has proven to be difficult, Israel has repeatedly launched airstrikes on the area, in what some reports have said are an attempt to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure from the air.
On 24 June, the Israeli military claimed to have trapped dozens of Hezbollah fighters in the Ali al-Taher complex, something the group denied and said was Israel’s attempts to hide its failures on the ground.
Two days later, the military alleged that it had captured the hills – a claim that Hezbollah also refuted, insisting that the area remained under its fighters’ control.
Earlier this week, the army released a video claiming to show Hezbollah operatives emerging from a tunnel in the Ali al-Taher ridge, when they were targeted.
Observers say Israel has not established a ground presence on the ridge, relying instead on air and artillery fire to target the area.
A pilot zone
Lebanon and Israel, in late June, signed a US-sponsored framework agreement that should see Israeli forces gradually pull out of certain areas in southern Lebanon and allow the Lebanese army to move in.
Dubbed “pilot zones,” these territories would only come under Lebanese sovereignty once Israel and the US confirm that all Hezbollah weapons and infrastructure have been cleared from these areas.
The conditional plan, which fails to give a timeframe for an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, has been rejected by Hezbollah.
During the talks in Washington last month, Israel had proposed Ali al-Taher to be one of these pilot zones, something Lebanon refused, as it is not under Israeli occupation. Beirut had insisted that the framework deal, which seeks to disarm Hezbollah, only begin in areas currently under Israeli control.
Hezbollah has outright refused to disarm as long as Israeli forces occupy southern Lebanon.
Israel has set up a security zone along the entire border inside Lebanese territory, spanning between 600 and 700 square kilometres – around six per cent of Lebanon’s total area. It says it will not leave southern Lebanon if Hezbollah is not dismantled.
Trump’s reported request to postpone any assault on Ali al-Taher – and his open criticism lately of Israel’s conduct in Lebanon – underscores how the strategically important ridge has become intertwined with broader US efforts to preserve the Iran nuclear and regional security negotiations.
Louay Faour is a journalist at The New Arab
