The circulation of footage showing an Israeli flag raised Tuesday on one of the peaks of the Ali al-Taher Heights has again drawn attention to one of South Lebanon’s most strategic locations.
Overlooking the city of Nabatieh and the town of Kfar Tebnit, the mountain has emerged as a key geostrategic flashpoint. Israel had claimed that it seized the area on June 26, but Hezbollah refuted it, saying its fighters still hold it.
While the images prompted speculation that Israel had secured the site, military experts say reaching one point on the ridge does not amount to controlling the entire mountain, which has become a central sticking point in negotiations because of its exceptional strategic value.
The developments coincided with renewed military activity across southern Lebanon. Israeli drones dropped several stun grenades over the town of Hadatha in the Bint Jbeil district, while Israeli warplanes flew at low altitude over the eastern Bekaa Valley as far as Baalbek.
In the western sector, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that Israeli forces conducted armored patrols through several villages, accompanied by heavy gunfire, as Israeli drones continued flying over Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Raising a flag does not mean control
Retired Brig. Gen. Bassam Yassine told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Ali al-Taher Heights is one of South Lebanon’s most important geographical and military strongholds because they dominate Nabatieh and its surroundings.
Stretching from Kfar Tebnit to Kfar Remman, the ridge overlooks the city and the roads leading to it while facing Beaufort Castle directly.
Yassine noted that Israel maintained positions at Ali al-Taher before its 2000 withdrawal from South Lebanon, operating three military outposts on Ali al-Taher, Dabsha, and Jabal al-Tahra.
Even if Israeli forces reach the mountain’s edge, he argued, they cannot claim full control. “A drone reaching one location or a flag being raised at a specific point does not mean military control or occupation of the entire area,” he said.
Addressing Israeli claims that Hezbollah has an underground facility beneath Ali al-Taher, Yassine said that, if it exists, it would explain why the area has been targeted by hundreds of airstrikes over the past two years.
He noted that Israel believes Hezbollah fighters remain inside the facility and is therefore seeking to seize it through ground operations, something that cannot be accomplished from the air alone.
Retired Brig. Gen. Fadi Daoud described Ali al-Taher as a supporting position for Beaufort Castle, with the two sites providing each other with mutual surveillance and fire support.
He stressed that Ali al-Taher is not a single summit but part of Jabal al-Tahra, which includes three principal peaks — Ali al-Taher, Dabsha, and Rayat al-Taher — that form a single military and geographic complex.
The ridge overlooks Kfar Tebnit, Nabatieh, and parts of Kfar Remman.
While observation of Israeli settlements is primarily provided from the Beaufort and Bfour heights, Ali al-Taher protects and reinforces those positions.
The ridge that changed the negotiations
According to information obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat, early discussions on an Israeli withdrawal from the South proposed beginning with Kfar Tebnit and the Beaufort Castle area to push the forces away from Nabatieh.
Israel, however, insisted on first reaching the Ali al-Taher, turning the ridge into the negotiations’ main point of contention.
Contacts were held with the United States on a proposal under which the Lebanese Army would deploy in the area while Israeli forces withdrew beyond the Litani River. The proposal was also conveyed to Hezbollah through mediators.
The sources said Israel accepted it, but Hezbollah rejected an initial formula that called for the Lebanese Army to deploy without entering the reported underground facility.
The proposal collapsed, and negotiators instead shifted to a pilot withdrawal plan covering Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh, Froun, and Ghandouriyeh, leaving Ali al-Taher outside any agreement.
Located north of the Litani River between Kfar Tebnit and Nabatieh al-Fawqa at an elevation of about 600 meters (1,970 feet), Ali al-Taher was one of Israel’s principal fortified positions in the former occupied border zone until 2000.
During the latest war, Israeli forces advanced toward the ridge after capturing Beaufort Castle, opening two axes of advance toward Ali al-Taher ahead of advancing on Nabatieh.
