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JERUSALEM - Israel said Thursday it demolished key tunnels built by the Iran-backed Hezbollah group beneath the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon, triggering a 4.1 magnitude tremor.
AFP journalists in the area heard several explosions. In a video shared by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, a huge fireball can be seen rising into the night sky.
The explosion comes a few days after Israeli authorities claimed to have taken control of the Ali al-Taher ridge, saying that the pro-Iranian Hezbollah had dug numerous tunnels there, allowing it to attack Israel from this mountainous area.
Israeli troops occupy part of southern Lebanon, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants to establish a "security zone" to prevent any attacks on the north of his country.
"This is strategic terrorist infrastructure that was built over two decades, with Iranian funding and planning," Netanyahu and Katz said in a joint statement.
The destruction "completes the achievement of operational control over the Ali al-Taher ridge -- above and below ground", the statement added.
The United States Geological Survey reported a 4.1 magnitude tremor in the area, after Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israel carried out a "massive explosion" on the Ali al-Taher ridge in the Nabatieh region, "causing tremors and a powerful rumble".
AFP journalists in south Lebanon also said they heard "huge explosions" on Thursday evening.
- 'Everything shook' -
"We were sitting there and everything shook," Joelle Fares, who recently moved to Majayoun, told AFP.
Israel announced last week that it had captured the Ali al-Taher ridge.
The Israeli army said the Hezbollah infrastructure extended for more than two kilometres (1.2 miles) and contained "dozens of Iranian-made rockets, missiles, and UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), as well as machine guns, dozens of anti-tank missiles, and hundreds of mines and explosive devices".
The underground compound also included a command centre of Hezbollah's "Badr" unit, the army added.
A military official told AFP that some Palestinians that had operated in the area of the ridge had abandoned it, while others were "eliminated by aerial strikes and artillery fire".
The official said Hezbollah members had dug eight underground routes to move safely beneath the ridge and several dozen explosive drones and hundreds of mines were seized by the Israeli army.
In March, Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the Middle East war in support of its backer Iran.
There had been a lull in violence after the understanding reached between Iran and the United States in June, followed by an agreement between Lebanon and Israel.
But strikes have increased in intensity in recent days.
During negotiations, the United States, which sponsored the talks, proposed that the Lebanese army take control of the Ali al-Taher ridge, but Hezbollah refused, a source close to the parties told AFP.
Beirut authorities say Israeli strikes have killed more than 4,300 people in total since March, and Israeli forces continue to occupy a so-called "security zone" in the south. - AFP
