Tyre: The Israeli army carried out a series of explosions and shelling in southern Lebanon early Friday, including demolishing part of a school, despite the US-mediated framework agreement.
According to Anadolu Agency, the escalation comes as Israel's election campaign intensifies, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeking to rally and unite his right-wing bloc ahead of the Oct. 27 elections. The Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israeli forces blew up most of the public school in the town of Mansouri in the Tyre district, leaving only a small part of the building standing. Israeli aircraft also launched a strike on Mansouri simultaneously with the large explosion at the school.
The Israeli army detonated explosives on the hill of Baraachit in Bint Jbeil district at dawn, coinciding with artillery shelling that targeted Wadi al-Hujair. On Thursday evening, the Israeli army conducted a powerful explosion in the Ali al-Taher heights, causing ground tremors. The blast reportedly targeted a tunnel network and Hezbollah infrastructure extending more than 1.2 miles (2 kilometers).
Israeli Army Radio military correspondent Doron Kadosh stated that Israeli forces, after entering the Ali al-Taher heights, had withdrawn to the Beaufort Castle area. Kadosh also claimed on the US social media company X that the Israeli army had offered fighters in the area a chance to surrender, but they refused. Nearly 50 fighters were killed as Israeli forces prepared to withdraw and remotely control the hilltop.
Kadosh further claimed that Israeli forces intercepted supply shipments that Hezbollah attempted to send to the fighters by drones. He reported that the Israeli army used 1,100 tons of explosives to destroy the tunnels. A senior Israeli officer involved in the operation described it as 'one of the most complex operations carried out by the army in recent years,' although the officer's name was not disclosed.
On Thursday, Netanyahu claimed that Israel had destroyed what he described as 'the largest Iranian site outside Iran,' referring to the Ali al-Taher tunnels. The Ali al-Taher hill is strategically significant, situated between the towns of Kfar Tibnit and Nabatieh al-Fawqa, north of the Litani River, and standing around 1,970 feet (600 meters) above sea level, overlooking wide areas of southern Lebanon.
Despite a 'framework formula' signed by Beirut and Tel Aviv on June 26, which calls for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from occupied territory in exchange for the deployment of the Lebanese army in those areas, Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon have persisted. Israel maintains control over areas in southern Lebanon, some occupied for decades and others since the conflict between 2023 and 2024, while expanding its presence inside Lebanese territory during its ongoing assault.