IDF blows up major Hezbollah tunnel complex at south Lebanon’s Ali Taher
Key updates
Skeptical Vance said to have sought direct intel from US generals on state of Iran war
US Vice President JD Vance reportedly sought direct insight from American generals on the war against Iran, seeking to bypass the Pentagon amid his skepticism of the extended military conflict.
A New York Times report says the VP was seeking direct intel from military commander on “objectives, tactics, casualty estimates, what the Iranians would do in the Strait of Hormuz.”
According to the report — citing “more than half a dozen” current and former officials, the commanders warned Vance about severely depleted military stockpiles, as well as the Iranian regime’s willingness to dig in for a major and drawn-out fight.
US slaps new sanctions on networks aiding Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies
The US government announces new sanctions against firms and individuals it says are aiding Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies in the Middle East as it intensifies its campaign to isolate Iran economically.
The latest sanctions are part of the Treasury Department’s “Operation Economic Outcast,” first announced August 24, which aims to cut off the revenues that Tehran is using to fund the war, build missiles, conduct cyberattacks and support the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC.
Today’s actions by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control hit entities and individuals in Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey that Washington says supported Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iraqi Shia paramilitary group under the command of the IRGC, and Hezbollah.
“Operation Economic Outcast is targeting those who continue to stand with the failing Iranian regime,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says in a statement. “Whether they finance terror, launder money, or help Iran evade sanctions, we will find them, cut them off from the US financial system, and dismantle the networks keeping the regime afloat.”
Earthquake recorded after Israel blows up Hezbollah tunnels in south Lebanon
A 4.1-magnitude earthquake was registered in southern Lebanon, the United States Geological Survey says, after massive explosions were reported while Israel said it was destroying Hezbollah underground infrastructure.
AFP journalists reported a huge explosion that caused tremors, while Defense Minister Israel Katz released images showing a fireball erupting into the sky.
הבטחנו וקיימנו.
המחבלים חוסלו ומנהרות עלי טאהר הושמדו.
כל הכבוד לצה"ל ???????? pic.twitter.com/yd9n4KjqGH— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) September 10, 2026
Report: US troops are in Saudi Arabia providing intel for strikes on Houthis
US military advisers are reportedly present in Saudi Arabia and assisting the Gulf nation in its strikes against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
According to CNN, citing five sources familiar with the operation, approximately 100 American military personnel are in the country and taking part in the efforts.
The report says the US is sharing intelligence as well as an AI targeting program with Riyadh, but not participating directly in any of the strikes.
Next round of Israel-Lebanon talks to be held in Rome next week
The next round of US-brokered talks between Israel and Lebanon will be held in Rome next week, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
The talks will extend for two days, but it has not yet been finalized whether they will begin on Tuesday or Wednesday, the official says.
Meanwhile, a US State Department official says in a statement to querying reporters that Washington is closely monitoring “calls from Southern Lebanon, where people are demanding their government assert sovereignty and stop Hezbollah from firing and storing weapons in their communities.”
“We applaud those communities and support the Government of Lebanon’s receptiveness to their requests,” the official continues.
“We urge the Government of Lebanon to formulate a plan for disarmament in all Lebanese territory, as laid out in the Trilateral Framework,” the US official says.
IDF: Over 1,100 tons of explosives used to blow up tunnel system in south Lebanon
The IDF says more than 1,100 tons of explosives were used to demolish the Hezbollah tunnels beneath the Ali Taher Ridge in southern Lebanon this evening.
Inside the two tunnels, spanning over two kilometers, troops found dozens of Iranian-made rockets, missiles and drones, along with firearms, anti-tank missiles, and hundreds of mines and other explosives, the military says.
According to the IDF, the tunnel systems under Ali Taher served as the “nerve center” of the terror group’s Badr regional division — a unit tasked with the area of southern Lebanon that is north of the Litani River. The IDF describes the facility as a “strategic infrastructure that was built over two decades,” an activity it said was financed and planned by Iran.
With the demolition of the Ali Taher underground site this evening, the IDF says it has now completed destroying a major Hezbollah tunnel network in the Ali Taher and Beaufort Castle area, which included a total of eight tunnels spanning 5.4 kilometers.
IDF blows up Ali Taher tunnel system a week after clearing it of Hezbollah operatives
A major Hezbollah tunnel system beneath the Ali Taher Ridge in southern Lebanon was blown up by the Israeli military moments ago.
A large blast was heard throughout the region as the IDF demolished two tunnel routes under the hill with explosives.
In a joint statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz say that the underground facility was destroyed following their directive, and the IDF has now “completed the organization of the security zone in southern Lebanon.”
Footage shows the demolition of Hezbollah's tunnels beneath the Ali Taher Ridge in southern Lebanon by the IDF tonight. pic.twitter.com/dpFDSok54n
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) September 10, 2026
According to the IDF, the tunnel systems under Ali Taher served as the “nerve center” of the terror group’s Badr regional division — a unit tasked with the area of southern Lebanon that is north of the Litani River.
The IDF described the facility as a “strategic infrastructure that was built over two decades,” an activity it said was financed and planned by Iran.
“The terror infrastructure and headquarters under the ridge were intended to serve as a base for the conquest of the Galilee, and surveillance and fire over Metula and Kiryat Shmona,” Netanyahu and Katz say.
Last week, the military said it had completed capturing and clearing out the tunnel system of Hezbollah operatives, killing some of them while others fled.
Netanyahu and Katz say this evening that following the blast, the IDF is “preparing for defense in the area and to prevent the enemy from returning to the territory.”
Iran ostensibly warned the US that it would respond to any Israeli offensive against the Hezbollah facility beneath the hill, according to a report by Reuters last week, although that came after the IDF had already captured and cleared the site.
IDF set to demolish major Hezbollah tunnel system under Ali Taher Ridge
The IDF is set to demolish a major Hezbollah tunnel system beneath the Ali Taher Ridge in southern Lebanon tonight.
Residents of northern Israel have been notified by local authorities that explosions are expected to be heard in the coming hours. A statement from the Upper Galilee Regional Council says that the IDF will carry out a “series of strikes and controlled explosions in Lebanon,” which will be heard across the region.
The IDF has been preparing to blow up the Ali Taher Ridge tunnels after clearing the underground site of Hezbollah operatives in recent weeks.
Iran ostensibly warned the US that it would respond to any Israeli offensive against the Hezbollah facility beneath the hill, according to a report by Reuters last week, although that came after the IDF had already captured and cleared the site.
Netanyahu at Western Wall: Iran ‘trying again’ to rearm, but Israel ‘striking Iranian axis’
Standing at the Western Wall complex in Jerusalem’s Old City, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Iran is trying to rearm.
“President Trump announced this evening that Iran is attempting to rearm with nuclear weapons,” says Netanyahu in a video released by his office. “This is true.”
“After we destroyed its immediate capability to produce nuclear bombs — in both Operation Rising Lion and Operation Roaring Lion, it is trying again.”
He pledges that Iran will not attain a nuclear weapon as long as he is in office, and promises that further action against Iran and its allies as well.
“We are striking the Iranian axis,” he says, “delivering heavy blows not only in the Gaza Strip but also in Lebanon. We have destroyed the Beaufort Ridge and are now dealing with the Ali Taher Ridge.”
“More to come,” he concludes.
In a speech yesterday, Trump said the United States may hit Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain facility, which Western intelligence has flagged as a site likely used to store nuclear material.
“We notice there’s a little activity at Pickaxe. I would advise Iran not to get cute because we will have to hit them very hard,” said the US president.
Pickaxe Mountain, located near Iran’s heavily damaged Natanz uranium enrichment facility, is a fortified site with two deeply buried tunnel complexes.
The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said earlier today that the agency has observed construction activity at Pickaxe Mountain.
Hamas terrorist behind 2003 shooting that killed MK’s husband slain in Gaza airstrike, says Israel
Israeli security bodies confirm the killing of a top member of the Hamas terror group, responsible for numerous deadly terror attacks, in a strike in Gaza City yesterday.
Yesterday, Hamas said Farah Hamed, a “commander and fighter” in the terror group’s military wing and a member of the “Military Council of the al-Qassam Brigades in the West Bank,” was killed in a strike in Gaza City’s Sheikh Ijlin neighborhood.
The strike killing Hamed was carried out by the Israel Police’s elite Gideonim unit (Unit 33), in a joint operation with the Shin Bet and IDF, the three bodies say.
Israeli security bodies confirm the killing of a top member of the Hamas terror group, responsible for numerous deadly terror attacks, in a strike in Gaza City yesterday.
Yesterday, Hamas said Farah Hamed, a "commander and fighter" in the terror group's military wing, and a… pic.twitter.com/fQRlGcBnDa
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) September 10, 2026
Hamed was a member of the “Silwad cell,” which operated during the Second Intifada and carried out a series of deadly shooting attacks in the West Bank.
According to the Shin Bet, Hamed was involved in a November 2002 shooting at Rimonim Junction, in which Esther Galia Attiya was killed; a June 2003 shooting on Route 60 in which Zvi (Howard) Goldstein was killed; an August 2003 shooting which critically wounded current Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech, and killed her husband, Shalom Har-Melech; and an October 2003 shooting in Ein Yabrud in which three soldiers were killed: Sgt. Elad Polak, Sgt. Roi Yaakov Solomon and Staff Sgt. Erez Idan.
The Shin Bet says Hamed was a “senior figure” in Hamas’s so-called West Bank Headquarters, a unit involved in recruiting terrorists and advancing attacks against Israel from or within the West Bank, and that he also took part in fighting against IDF troops during the war in Gaza.
Since he was released to Gaza in 2011 as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal, the Shin Bet says he “continued to belong to Hamas’s military wing and was involved in recruiting and directing the organization to advance attacks” in the West Bank.
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